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LIVES
or THE
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTEEBFEY.
. . YOL. Yll.
LONDOS
PRINTED BY S POTT I S W O O 1)E AND CO.
VEW-STREKT SQUARE
>l
LIVES
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTEEBUEY.
BY
WALTER FAEQUHAE HOOK, D.D. F.RS.
DEAN OP CHICHESTER.
VOLUaiE VII.
REFORMATION PERIOD.
History -which may he called just and perfect history is of three kinds, according to the object which it
propoundeth or pretendeth to represent; for it either representeth a time, or a person, or an action. The
first we call Chronicles, the second Lives, and the third Narratives or Relations. Of these, altliough Chronicles
be the most complete and absolute kiad of history, and hath most estimition and glory, yet Lives excelleth in
profit and osr, and Narratives or Relations in verity or sincerity. Lord Bacon.
LOXDOX:
EICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
IJublisbcr in Oibinarn to f,cx llTiijfstn.
18GS.
Tfie light of translation '« reserved.
CONTENTS
OK
THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
CHAPTER III.— continued.
THOilAS CKANMER.
Dissolution of monasteries. — Reform of Canterbury Cathedral. — Visit
to England of German Protestants.— Treated with incivility by the
King. — Their influence with Cranmer. — Discontent of the people. —
Meeting of Parliament. — Whip with six strings. — Cranmer's con-
duct on the occasion. — Convocation consulted. — Persecution of Ana-
baptists.— Proclamation against Sacramentaries. — Persecution of
John Lambert for denying Transubstantiation. — King Henry's zeal
ibr Catholicism. — Other cases of persecution. How far Cranmer was
concerned in them. — Mrs. Kyme, alias Ann Askew. — Joan Bocher.
— Ann of Cleves. — Catherine Howard. — Fate of Crumwell. — Arbi-
trary proceedings of Cranmer. — Visitation of liis diocese. — Vidgar
errors. — Conspiracy against Cranmer. — Palace at Canterbury. —
Cranmer supj)orted by the King against a consjoiracy in the Council.
— Parts with his wife. — His domestic life. — Anecdotes. — His ava-
rice.— AccejDtance of monastic property. — IL Cranmer's theological
opinions. — His zeal for circulating the translated Bible. — History of
versions. — Cranmer's Catholicism. — His Sacramental doctrine. —
When he renounced the dogma of Transubstantiation. — Cranmer
denounced by foreign Protestants. — Violence of foreign Protes-
tants against the Church of England. — Cranmer's Erastianism. —
Became a soimd Churchman. — The Apostohcal Succession. — Crum-
well's proceedings as Vice-gerent. — Crumwell's insolence. — Party
movements. — The Book of Articles. — Synodical meeting of the two
VI CONTENTS OP THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
Provinces. — Alexander Ales. — The Bishop's Book. — Howfar Cranmev
had advanced in 1537. — New movement towards Liturgical Reform.
— Homilies dra^vn up. — Necessary erudition or the King's Book. —
Litany translated into English. — The Primer.- — Archbishop active in
repressing Protestant as well as Papist error. — III. Death of Henry
VIH. — Cranmer celebrates Mass at the funeral. — Celebrates !Mass in
memory of Francis I. — Protector Somerset. — Edward VI. — Corona-
tion.— Cranmer's arbitrary and unconstitutional proceedings. — The
General Visitation. — Unjust deposition of Gardyner. — Disgraceflil
appointment of Poynet to the See of Winchester. — Bonner. —
Northumberland. — Progress of the Eeformation. — Discussions on the
Eucharist. — Convocation. — First Revision of the Missal. — Commis-
sion appointed. — A review of our Liturgical Offices from Augustine
to Osmund, from Osmund to Cranmer, from Cranmer to Juxon. —
First Prayer Book of Edward VI. — Calvin and Calviuists violently
opposed to Prayer Book and the English Reformation. — Second
Prayer Book. — The Forty-two Articles. — The Reformatio Legum, a
failure. — Northumberland's conspiracy. — How far Cranmer was im-
plicated.^— Death of Edward VI. — IV. Perplexity of the Reformers.
— Gardyner and Bonner.^ — The Bloody JMary.- — ^Ci-anmer unjustly
accused. — His self-vindication. — Brought before the Star Chamber
— Imprisoned in the Tower. — His comforting intercourse with
Ridley, Bradford, and Latimer, — His delusive hopes. — A packed
Convocation undoes the work of the Reformers. — Cranmer arraigned
in Guildhall for treason. — Pleads guilty. — His letter to the Queen.
— Sent to Oxford with Ridley and Latimer to dispute with a Com-
mittee of Convocation. — Unjustifiable proceedings. - Disputes with
Harpsfield. — Summoned before a Synod of Presbyters. — Condemna-
tion of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. — Letter to the Council. — Not
badly treated. — Pole's arrival in England. — Commission to degrade
Ridley and Latimer. — Commission for degradation of Cranmer from
the Pope. — Martyrdoms. — Persecutions. — Cranmer summoned to
Rome. — Trial before Brookes. — His expectations of favomr from the
Queen. — Letter to the Queen. — Proceedings at Rome. — Cranmer's
condemnation. — Bonner's harshness. — Cranmer's degradation. — His
appeal. — The recantations. — His repentance. — His execution Page 1
SUCCESSION
AHCHBISHOPS AND CONTEMPOEAEY KINGS.
Archbishops.
5 e
Consecrators.
Contemporary
Kings.
William Warliam . .
Thomas Cranmer . .
1502
1533
[Eich. Winchester .]
J John Exeter . , . !■
( Rich. Rochester . . )
[John Lincoln. , .]
- John Exeter . . . !■
( Hen. S. Asaph . . j
•
1503
1533
1532
1556
j Henry VII.
1 Henry VIII.
(Honry VIII.
] Edward. VI.
( Mary.
TABLE
CONTEMPOKAEY SOVEEEIGNS.
1
A.D.
England.
Scotland.
Germany.
France.
Pope.
Spain.
1503
HemyVII.
James IV.
Maximilian I.
Louis XII.
Pius in.
Julius II.
Ferdinand II.
and Isabella.
1509
Henry VIII.
,
.
,
1513
James V.
LeoX.
,
1515
^
.
Francis I.
1516
, ,
, ,
Charles I.
1519
•
•
Charles V.
•
•
Emperor
Chtxrles V.
1522
,
^ ^
Adrian VI.
1523
, ,
,
,
Clement VII.
1534
, ,
.
Paul III.
^
1542
,
Mary
.
1547
Edward VI.
Henry 11.
.
1550
,
'
Julius III.
^
1553
Mary
1555
,
Marccllinus II.
1556
Paul IV.
Philip II. 1
LIVES
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY
BOOK lY.— con^mwec?.
CHAPTEE ILL— continued.
THOMAS CRANMER.
Dissolution of monasteries. — Eeform of Canterbury Cathedral. — Visit
to England of German Protestants. — Treated with incivihty by the
King. — Their influence with Cranmer. — Discontent of the people. —
Meeting of Parliament. — "Whip with six strings. — Cranmer's con-
duct on the occasion. — Convocation consulted. — Persecution of Ana-
baptists.— Proclamation against Sacramentaries. — Persecution of
John Lambert for denying Transubstantiation King Henry's zeal
for Catholicism. — Other cases of persecution. — How far Cranmer was
concerned in them. — Mrs. Kyme, alias Ann Askew. — Joan Bocher.
— Ann of Cleves. — Catherine Howard. — Fate of Crumwell. — Arbi-
trary proceedings of Cranmer. — Visitation of his diocese. — Vulgar
errors. — Conspiracy against Cranmer. — Palace at Canterbury. —
Cranmer supported by the King against a conspiracy in the Council.
— Parts with his wife. — His domestic life. — Anecdotes. — His ava-
rice.— Acceptance of monastic property. — II. Cranmer's theological
opinions. — His zeal for circulating the translated Bible. — History of
versions. — Cranmer's Catholicism. — His Sacramental doctrine. —
"When he renoimced the dogma of Transubstantiation. — Cranmer
denounced by foreign Protestants. — Violence of foreign Protes-
tants against the Church of England. — Cranmer's Erastianism. —
Became a sound Churchman. — The Apostolical Succession. — Crum-
weU's proceedings as Vice-gerent. — Crumwell's insolence. — Party
VOL. VII. B
L LIVES OF THE
movements. — The Book of Articles. — Synodical meeting of the two
Provinces. — Alexander Ales. — The Bishop's Book. — How far Cranmer
had advanced in 1537. — New movement towards Liturgical Eeform.
— Homilies drawn np. — Necessary erudition or the King's Book. —
Litany translated into English. — The Primer. — Archbishop active in
repressing Protestant as well as Papist error. — IIL Death of Henry
Vin. — Cranmer celebrates Mass at the funeral. — Celebrates Mass in
memory of Francis I. — Protector Somerset. — Edward VI. — Corona-
tion Cranmer's arbitrary and unconstitutional proceedings. — The
General Visitation. — Unjust deposition of Gardyner. — Disgraceful
appointment of Poynet to the See of Winchester. — Bonner. —
Northumberland. — Progress of the Eeformation. — Discussions on the
Eucharist. — Convocation. — First Eevision of the IMissal. — Commis-
sion appointed. — A review of oTir Liturgical Offices from Augustine
to Osmund, from Osmund to Cranmer, from Cranmer to Juxon. —
First Prayer Book of Edward VI. — Calvin and Calvinists violently
opposed to Prayer Book and the English Eeformation. — Second
Prayer Book. — The Forty-two Articles. — The Eeformatio Legum, a
failure. — Northumberland's conspiracv. — How far Cranmer Avas im-
plicated.— Death of Edward VI. — IV. Perplexity of the Eefomiers.
— Gardyner and Bonner. — The Bloody Mary. — Cranmer tmjustly
accused. — His self-vindication. — Brought before the Star Chamber
— Imprisoned in the Tower. — His comforting intercotu-se Avith
Eidley, Bradford, and Latimer. — His delusive hopes. — A packed
Convocation undoes the work of the Eeformers. — Cranmer arraigned
in Guildhall for treason. — Pleads guilty. — His letter to the Queen.
— Sent to Oxford with Eidley and Latimer to dispute A\'ith a Com-
mittee of Convocation. — Unjustifiable proceedings. — Disputes with
Harpsfield. — Summoned before a Synod of Presbyters. — Condemna-
tion of Cranmer, Eidley, and Latimer. — Letter to the Coimcil. — Not
badly treated. — Pole's arrival in England. — Commission to degrade
Eidley and Latimer. — Commission for degradation of Cranmer from
the Pope. — ]\Iartyrdoms. — Persecutions. — Cranmer summoned to
Eome. — Trial before Brookes. — His expectations of favour from the
Queen. — Letter to the Queen. — Sham proceedings at Eome. — Cran-
mer's condemnation. — Bonner's harshness. — Cranmer's degradation.
— His appeal. — The recantations. — His repentance. — His execution,
CHAP. In the OTeat work which has consigned tlie name of
TTT
V ,_: - Cmniwell to an immortahty of honour or disgrace — the
cianmer. dissolution of the monastcrics — Cranmer took no active
1633-56. part. The story has been narrated in detail in the
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 3
Introductory Chapter, and need not be repeated here. chap.
In defending the regulars tlie archbishop and tlie secular ^~ — . — '
clergy were not much interested, and a broad distinction Cranmer.
was made between the property of the Church and the 1533-56.
property of the monasteries. Although some were
alarmed when Ucalegon's house was in danger, many
more among the seculars were disposed to secure the
safety of Church property, by sacrificmg the monks
to the cupidity of the courtiers and the avarice of the
king. The monasteries, though connected with the
Church, formed no part of the Church system. They
were decidedly anti-episcopahan institutions ; they had
wasted large sums of money to purchase exemption from
episcopal jurisdiction ; an account of the contentions for
this privilege occupies a large portion of the monastic
chronicles ; and it was not to be supposed that the
bishops should be zealous in their defence. To this cause
Ave may indeed attribute, in part, the ease with which
they were overthrown.
To the confiscation of monastic property for the pur-
pose of supplanting monasteries by schools and colleges,
the public mind had been habituated from the time of
Wilham of Wykeham and Chicheley, to that of Cardinal
Wolsey. Against their spoliation there was not a single
protest from either house of convocation, whether in the
province of Canterbury or of York.
I wish we could find a protest from Cranmer against
the iniquitous proceedings of Cnuiiwell, when that minis-
ter, in attempting to create a public opinion against the
monks, permitted his followers to turn all rehgion into
ridicule. As against the monks, Crumwell succeeded ; but
he created an alarm, whicli ended in a reaction, when he
made it appear that by Protestantism his associates meant
not a protest against popery, but a protest against all
B 2
4 LIVES OF THE
CH.\p. relioion. lu staiie plays and interludes acted in dese-
111 "' ^ i ^ ...
crated churclies the most sacred rites of Christianity were
turned into ridicule, while the ministers of religion were
exposed to the scorn and contempt of tlie grinning
populace.*
Against these proceedings, some of the suffragans of
Cranmer did protest, but Cranmer himself was overawed
by Crumwell ; and although, at this time, he saw little
of his royal master, he applied to the man the legal fiction
wdth which the law approaches the king^ and imagined
that Henry YJH. could do no wrong.
By Cranmer and his party Henry, indeed, was be-
lieved— and at this period of his reign, there is no reason
why he should not be beheved — when he declared it
to be his intention, with the property of the monas-
teries, to erect schools, and to increase the number of
bishoprics.
Of what took place at the gambling table in the palace,
only the rumour would reach Lambeth ; and, as the man-
ner is with loyal subjects, the unwelcome rumour was
disbelieved, or pronounced to be a gross exaggeration.
We are continually to bear in mind that much of what is
known to us was unknown or only partially known to
contemporaries.
The promises of the king, like other royal promises,
were forgotten amidst the calls of pleasure, or the p]:'essure
of business. They were recalled to his recollection, not by
the eloquence of Cranmer, but by the alarming condition
to which the country had been brought by Crumwell.
The king was roused from the lethargy of dissipation
by the disturbances in -the north and by the Pilgrimage of
* See Maitlaud's Reformation, 236 ; and Burnet, i. 303. The sub-
ject is treated at length in the Introductory Chapter of this book.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 5
Grace. As liacl been the case with Wolsey, so had it ckap.
been with Criimwell ; the king left to his minister the -- , — ■
details of business, until there was an outcry among the cranmer.
people, and then Henry arose like a giant. He assumed 1533-06.
the direction of affairs ; he regamed the popularity he
dearly loved by throwing the blame of all past miscon-
duct on the minister ; and he was prepared to sacrifice
the minister himself, if the sacrifice was demanded by the
people.
The king was prepared to redress grievances, while he
put down with a strong hand an insurrection wliich ap-
proached to the nature of a rebellion. Among other
things, he redeemed his pledge to parliament ; and new
sees were established, though inadequately endowed, at
Oxford, Peterborough, Bristol, Gloucester, and Chester.
In certain conventual churches, in their respective dio-
ceses, the cathedra, or throne, of the new bishop, was
erected ; and measures were taken to establish chapters
of secular clergy in those ancient cathedrals from which
the regulars had now been expelled.
The reader will remember the struggle of Dunstan and
Lanfranc, predecessors of Cranmer, to place any cathedrals,
to which their influence might extend, in the hands of
the regulars. They partially succeeded, and it became a
pecuharity of the Church of England, in the middle age,
with a few exceptions, chiefly in Spain, that many cathe-
drals, instead of being governed by a dean and canons,
were administered by a prior and his convent of monks.
The seculars, who had been driven by Dimstan and
Lanfranc from many of the cathedrals, were now, under
Cranmer, restored to their ancient inheritance, and the
monks were compelled to retire. The chapters of Can-
terbury, Winchester, Durham, Ely, Xoi*wich, \YDrcester,
Carlisle, and Eochester, were at this time composed of
6 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, regulars. They were under the rule of priors, some of
■ r^ — ' them mitred.
(>anmOT. ^ mitred prior was the prior of Canterbury, who, when
1533-56. he officiated, was attired almost like a bishop. In each
case, the relation of the bishop of the diocese to the
priory in his cathedral was theoretically that of an abbot
to his convent. These priories were now converted into
colleges, and new arrangements of the chapter and of the
inferior officers of the establishment became necessary.
Hence there existed, and still continues to exist, in the
Church of England two distinct classes of cathedrals :
cathedrals of the old foundation, and cathedrals of the new
foundation. With the old foundations, the reformers had
no occasion to interfere. These cathedrals had from their
foundation been administered by the secular clergy, and
they were unmolested.* To the present hour they are
regulated by statutes confirmed to them in the eleventh
and twelfth centuries by the Norman kings, Avith powers
of legislation, through which they have from time to time
adapted themselves to the exigencies of the several ages
through which they have passed. Although Queen Victoria
has taken away the corpses formerly attached to the non-
residentiary stalls, to endow new parishes or to increase
the income of parishes badly endowed, those ancient
stalls nevertheless remained and are claimed by the in-
cumbents as freeholds.
As Canterbury was a cathedral administered by re-
gulars ; it required a reform amounting almost to a
revolution. In effecting the change in his cathedi'al, the
* The cathedrals of the old foundation are York, London, Chichester,
Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, Lincoln, Salisbury, and "Wells. Some of
the old foundation cathedrals, it may be said, had new statutes given
them ; Ave may mention Lichfield for one. But I look on these rather
as new promulgations or codifications of the old.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 7
abilities of Craiimer, as a legislator, were called into play. chap.
In these matters, however, the king took a personal - — ,^
interest ; and we must admit that the superiority of Henry cranmS.
in matters of detail — for he descended to details — is con- 1.333-06.
spicuous.
There never was, nor was there likely to be, a good
understanding between the archbishop and his chapter.
From the iniquities of the time, it was not to be ex-
pected, that the great convent of Canterbury would be
entirely exempt ; although we shall find the archbishop
himself admitting that no charge of immorahty, in the
ordinary sense of the term, could be brought against that
body. But that the respectable superiors of the monastery
did not take steps to discover or prevent the impostures
to which some unscrupulous members of the convent had
recourse, we are compelled to suspect. They did not prac-
tise impostiu-es themselves, but they must have been .aware
that of this offence some of the brethren were guilty, and
they wilfully shut their eyes to the fact. The temptation
was great. For centuries devotees had flocked to the
shrine of St. Thomas, and now there was a tendency in
the pubhc to treat the history and the miracles of the
martyr with a sneer scarcely concealed. To sustain the
fading idea of a miraculous odour pervading the pre-
cincts of the cathedral, acts were resorted to which could
be justified only by those who thought a righteous end
would justify recourse to means of which righteousness
could certainly not be predicated.
It is surprising to find how easily the pilgrimages to
Canterbiu-y were suppressed. One would have supposed
that the whole city and county would have resisted the
abolition of a custom which brouQ;ht so much wealth to
the inhabitants. But at this time, the wealthy seldom
made pilgrimages to the shrine for the purposes of de-
O LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Yotion ; and the mob of pilo;rims, in the absence of the
III • . .
v—,-^ — - wealthy, instead of enriching the inhabitants, made them
CranTer. tlicir prayer. These came not to spend, but to beg. The
1533-56. grumblers, no doubt, were many, but when the autho-
rities of Church and State had determined to suppress
the superstition, the townspeople generally acquiesced,
with a good grace ; and fierce feelings of indignation
were excited when they foimd that they had been all
along; victims of a delusion.
This feeling of disregard for the martyr had been
gradually advancing of late years. When, in the time of
Archbishop Warham, Erasmus visited Canterbury, he ex-
pressed himself perfectly astonished at the number of
sanctified bones produced for his inspection ; sculls, jaw-
bones, teeth, hands, fingers, entire arms, all of which he
and his companion, much to their disgust, were expected
to kiss. He began to fear that the exhibition would have
never come to an end, when the impatience of his com-
panion interrupted " the zeal of the showman." It was
thus he described the priest in his alb and Avith a hghted
taper, who bent the knee as he indicated each sacred
relic. But to the common showman a pilgrim so dis-
tinguished as Erasmus was not left ; Dr. Goldwell himself,
the lord prior, appeared to display certain treasures not
exposed to the vulgar eye. The lord prior opened to
them the shrine of which, resplendent with jewels, the
least valuable part was the gold. With a white wand.
Dr. Goldwell pointed out each jewel, giving its name and
the name of its donor, and at the same time estimating
its value. The principal gems were the gifts of sovereign
princes who had knelt trembling before the queller of
tyrants. In the sacristy was produced a box containing
what the lord prior regarded as something more valuable
than gold and precious stones — fragments of hnen, origi-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 9
nally filtby, and now filthier through age, with which St. ckap.
Thomas had been accustomed " to wipe the perspiration .. — ^ — -
from his face or neck, the runnings of his nose, and all craumS.
the superfluities from which the most holy human frame 1533-06.
is not free." Without a periphrasis, he exhibited the
pockethandkerchief of Thomas a Becket.
The jocular, sarcastic, sneering tone of Erasmus, while
observing all outward demonstrations of respect, was
evidently not peculiar to himself The worthy prior was
accustomed to see an incredulous smile upon some from
whom he had expected better things. We may mention
the case of a lady — and ladies are the last to retire from
acts of devotion long sanctioned : the easy, though well-
bred, indifference manifested by Madame de Montreuil,
when visiting the shrine, a few years after the visit just
mentioned, of Erasmus, must have combined, with other
circumstances, to convince the good and pious, but too
credulous, prior GoldweU, and with him the wiser among
his brethren, that, however much the treasures confided
to their custody might be valued as works of art or as
relics of piety, the time was passing, if it were not gone,
when they could infuse into the admirers of St. Thomas
a spirit of resistance to such a king as Henry YIII.
That with a convent so occupied Cranmer should have
httle or nothing in common is at once apparent ; he
regarded the prior and his brethren with contempt, and
they looked upon him with mingled feelings of suspicion
and fear ; and yet, Thomas Goldwell, the last of the
Benedictine priors of Christ Church, Canterbury, was not
a contemptible person. Elected lord prior in 1517, he
held the ofiice till the dissolution of the monastery. He
was a man against whose moral character the Protestant
inquisitors were unable to bring the shadow of a charge,
and he ruled his house well. Cranmer complained of
10 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, him for not making grants sufficiently liberal to the
v- ^ — ' archiepiscopal treasmy, yet of the munificence of Prior
Cranmor. Golchvell we havc ocular demonstration to the present
1533-56. day. The student of history is reminded of Goldwell's
good taste when he passes through the stately entrance
into the precincts of Canterbury, which was planned and
executed by the prior ; by whom was also erected the
central tower of the magnificent cathedral itself He was
contemplating the completion of Becket's cro"\vn. He is
described by Erasmus — and a better witness could not
be produced — as a man equally pious and judicious, and
as by no means a bad Scotist. He complied, though not
with a good grace, with the various changes which took
place in the reign of Henry VIH., and had accepted the
royal supremacy ; he paid a retaining fee to Crumwell ;
but in theological opinions he differed from the arch-
bishop. Cranmer, though holding no Protestant principles
when he was appointed to the see of Canterbury, was
nevertheless a man of progress, whereas Goldwell, though
yielding to authority, was a decided conservative. He
never willingly took a step in advance. Cranmer ad-
mitted that the prior acted up to the letter of any
injunctions he might receive, but he complained that he
was ever ready to evade or to explain them away. Such
a one, standing in the relation of the prior to the arch-
bishop, must have been pecuharly offensive to Cranmer ;
and in the letters of the archbishop, we find him
desirous to have the prior of Canterbiu-y removed,
though it was long before he succeeded. At the same
time, the prior and convent, though not prepared to show
any great favour to their primate, quietly met his legal
demands. They incurred — which was certainly unusual
— the chief expense of the banquet at the archbishop's
enthronisation, and we must admit, that the treatment
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 11
they received from the archbishop was not always so
gracious as mioht have been expected. On one occa-
. r. ? 1 1 1 n • 1 1111 • Thomas
sion, for example, when the archbishop thanked the prior cnmmer.
for some " good and kind token " he had received from io33-o6.
" your brethren and mine, not deserved as yet ;" he added,
"nevertheless you should have done me much more
greater pleasure if you had lent it me full of gold, not
for any pleasure or delectation that I have in the thing,
but for the contentation of such as I am indebted and
dangered unto ; which I assure you hath grieved me more
of late than any worldly thing hath done a great season ;
in this I am bold to show you my necessity, thinking of
good congruence I might in such lawfid necessity be more
bolder of you, and you likewise of me, than to attempt or
prove any foreign friends. Wherefore, trusting in your
benevolence and of all my brethren for the premises, I
shall so recompense the same again, according as ye shaU
be weU contented and pleased withal. Thus fare ye
weU." * There were faults on both sides. The convent
gave less than they had been accustomed to give, but
more than could be legally demanded of them. Cran-
mer felt the neglect, but could not compel them to
give more.
Cranmer, no doubt, had Goldwell and several of his
monks, to a certain extent, in his power. The prior and
some of his brethren had been compromised in the affair
of Elizabeth Barton ; and the open advocacy of the im-
posture by two of the body cast suspicion upon all its
members. But on the other hand, GoldweU, following
the example which had been set by the superiors in
other great monasteries, had secured the good offices of
♦ Letter Ivii. Harl. MSS. 6,148, fol. 32, b. As abbot of the
convent, the archbishop had probably some claim upon the revenues
of the see, but no direct share in the dividends.
12 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Crumwell, and lie sustained an interest in the vicegerent
, by sundry little attentions and presents. An ecclesiastic
Cranmer. patronised by Crumwell might, if he acted with common
1533-56. discretion, assume an attitude of independence with re-
gard to the primate.
Cranmer made no secret of his dislike of monastic
institutions ; he carried out his dislike even to the
cathedral chapters, though he would have been glad to
convert some of the religious houses into educational
institutions. With respect to Canterbury, he did not
hesitate to insinuate, that of the jugglery as to miracles
which had been detected and exposed in other monas-
teries, the convent of Canterbury w^as not innocent. Al-
though we acquit Goldwell of any direct patronage of the
malpractices, in this respect, yet with respect to some of
the monks his suspicions probably approached nearer to
a certainty than tliose of the archbishop. But what the
archbishop would expose, the prior would conceal. If
wrong were done, the prior thought it were better to hush
up the affair ; and Goldwell would regard tlie offence as
very venial, as it had for its object to increase the de-
votion of the people.
Cranmer watched the proceedings of the monastery
very narrowly, and there were many persons ready to
assist him in his observations and enquiries. At length,
the archbishop openly declared his conviction that the
blood of St. Thomas of Canterbury was but a feigned
thing, and made of some red ochre or of such like matter,
and he applied to the government for a commission to
enquire and report.
There could be no doubt of the fact of the imposture,
when once enquiry was made. Goldwell and his chapter
therefore felt, that they were at the mercy of Cranmer
and Crumwell, and were prepared to make the best
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 13
bargain for themselves they could. An hostility of the chap.
townspeople against the monks, even when pilgrimages -y— r-^—
to St. Thomas's shrine were most popular, had always Cranmer.
existed ; and this hereditary animosity increased by the i •533-56,
disrepute into which pilgrimages had fallen and by the
spirit of the age amounting to a fanaticism against the
monasteries, became inflamed to the highest pitch. In
the destruction of other monasteries, Crumwell had sought
to win the mob by hounding them on to plunder the
monks of all that the commissioners had left; and the idea
of a scramble was present to the minds, no doubt, of not a
few. But the convent of Christ Church was not simply
a monastery : it consisted of the members of the cathedral
chaj)ter, wdio were regulars, instead of being, as they ought
to have been, secular clergy. It was not the intention of
Henry to destroy the cathedrals ; on the contrary, he took
an interest in such establishments. The cathedral was
saved because there stood the bishop's cathedra. But
what has just been advanced will serve to show, why the
prior and the convent were prepared to accept any terms
proposed to them by the government.
A royal injunction, issued so early as 1536, for the
abrogation of superstitious hohdays or festivals, had its
bearing upon the convent of Canterbury. As Cranmer
complained to Crumwell, that tlie injunction, though
emanating from the king, was not observed by the com-t,
we may infer that it was issued at the instance of the
archbishop, and that it had a political rather tlian a
rehgious aspect. It was, indeed, with a special view to
the abohtion of the greatest of all the festivals of the
Church of England as it then existed, — excepting those
only which related to our Lord himself, — that orders were
given that no festival should henceforth be kept during
Jiarvest time ; that is, between the 1st of July and the
Thomas
Cranmer.
14 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. 29th of September.* Middle- class legislation is liere per-
ceptible. Land had been purchased by commercial men ;
they desired to make the most of their property ; but
1533-56. owing to the multitude of holidays, during which the
labouring classes were kept from work, they were by no
means secure of carrjnng the hai^^est before the weather
became foul. Eeadily did they, therefore, accept the in-
junction which Cranmer designed to be a step in advance
towards the reformation of the Church.
The Tth of July arrived. It was the feast of the trans-
lation of St. Thomas of Canterbury. The archbishop was
at his palace on the 6th, a day which his predecessors had
long kept ostentatiously as a fast. No fast-day had been
by the primates more strictly observed. Archbishop
Cranmer took his place, however, in the centre of the
high table in his hall, to which the public were freely
admitted, and there they saw the Lord Archbishop of
Canterbury enjoying a hearty meal, regahng, not on fish
but on flesh.
Wliat he did himself, he directed the prior and con-
vent to do by command of the king. They obeyed;
they feasted on the fast-day, and the day following was
regarded as ferial.
The dire ostent the fearful people viewed ;
but if they were alarmed at first, lest the insulted saint
should take vengeance on the Church and town, the
alarm soon subsided, and the feast of the translation was
extinct.
It was an easy and a pleasant triumph, followed by a
remarkable proceedmg, quite in character with the age,
and conducted with a view not to satisfy the well-in-
formed and educated portion of the community, but to
* Strype, 10.
ARCnBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 15
make an impression upon the superstitious who required citap.
to be met on their own ground. < — , —
Men did not in those days regard death in the light of cranmer.
an annihilation of what was once ahve. Death was re- 1533-06.
gaixled as the portal through which the sanctified passed
into heaven ; and those who, not dying in the odour of
sanctity, had nevertheless been exempt from mortal sin,
into purgatory. The soul of the saint was supposed to be
endued with greater powders, and to be furthering invisibly
the ends he had in view, w^hen he was still in the flesh.
Thomas a Becket was regarded as the personification of
the principle of papal supremacy, as opposed to the supre-
macy of the cro"wn. He had, in his death, triumphed
over Henry 11. ; and Henry VHI. w^as determined to
avenge himself upon the great enemy of his ancestor. He
uncanonised the saint, who was henceforth to be called
Bishop Becket. He would deal Avith that dead man as
the papists had dealt with John Wiclif. He instituted
legal proceedings against the traitor prelate. If the saint
would work a miracle in vindication of himself, the king
would submit to be defeated and disgraced. If the
king with impunity scattered to the winds the bones of
Bishop Becket, this w^ould prove the reputed saint to be
not a martyr but a traitor, who, if he possessed any
powers, w^as now^ unable to defend himself, much less his
worshippers.
Against "Thomas Becket," sometime Archbishop of
Canterbury, " the king's attorney-general exhibited an in-
formation charging him with treason, contumacy, and re-
bellion." On the 24th of October, 1538, a pursuivant
arrived at Canterbury, and straightway demanded ad-
mission into the cathedral. The monks knew why he
had come, and he was received in solemn silence. With
the insolence of an official arriving from the capital, and
16 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, regarding the provincials with contempt, and with the
- ;j — - irreverence also of one who, contemning superstition, had
Cranmer. discarded all religion except that which the king's govern-
1533-56. ment commanded him to accept, the pursuivant hastened
through the choir ; he marched straight up to the shrine
Avhere thousands upon thousands had knelt in prayer, and,
with a loud irreverent voice, he summoned the defunct
archbishop to appear in the king's court of justice, in
person or by proxy, to answer to the charge brought
acjainst him of hicrh treason.
Silence ensued. Many were still prostrate before the
shrine ; their wavering hearts doubting, but not yet en-
tirely rejecting, the legends relating to St. Thomas. They
half expected some indication to be given of the martyr's
anger, and they were there in an attitude to deprecate his
wrath. For thirty days the summons was repeated.
When the last day came, all hope had expired. For
the last time, the pursuivant stood before the shrine still
resplendent with jewels and gold, his foot resting upon
stones literally indented by the bare knees of the millions
who had knelt there in earnest, if in mistaken, enthusiasm.
There was a pause, and the imagination wandered to the
crypt ; and it did not require much exercise of the imagi-
nation to fancy that the lashes could be heard, as one
after the other they fell upon the back of that proud king
whom his prouder descendant was now avenging. The
silence w^as broken by the hard unfeeling tone of tlie pur-
suivant's voice summoning the dead to judgment. Then
there was silence again —
"O"
KoX irjs ar^av 'yap sari irov aiyrjs ^dpos.
One by one the brethren retired, each for the last time
bending the knee, as he passed it, to the shrine, which
from childhood he had worshipped. The aged prior was
ARCHBISHOPS OF a\NTERBURY. 17
left alone. His occupation was gone. When the shrine
was demolished, what Avould be the use of Becket's
crown ? He pitied himself, the last lord prior. He
pitied his brethren ; from the consecrated palace of the 1533-06.
Kmg of Kings, which had been to many of them a happy
liome, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to old
age — they were about to be driven homeless.*
On the 16th of Xovember, a proclamation was issued
setting forth the cause and manner of Becket's death — a
proclamation which was drawn up with consummate skill
and industry by Crumwell. All those points were dwelt
upon which were seen to be most telling upon the public
mind, which, however otherwise divided, was resolute in
its resistance to the pope. The proclamation dwelt upon
Becket's adhesion to a foreign potentate in opposition to
the King of England, and represented his death as being
inconsistent with the character of a saint. Listead of
yielding jiis life mth meekness, he defended it to the last
with the ferocity of an outlaw. As the pope was here-
after to be spoken of only as the Bishop of Eome, so was
St. Thomas of Canterbury ever afterwards to be described
simply as Bishop Becket. His images and pictures were
* Wilkins, iii. 835, 836. Doubts of the authenticity of the narrative
haA^e been started because it rests on the authority of foreigners,
Sanders, Pallini, and Paul III. Yet it seems to be confirmed by the
proclamation of 1539, which is considered by Dr. Lingard and Dean
Stanley, regarding the case from opposite quarters, to establish its
authenticity. It is not improbable that, when some of the foreign
Protestants represented the proceeding as absurd, Henry VIII. tampered
with the documents relating to the affair, as he did with aU the other
public documents of the age. But neither Henry nor Cranmer were,
at this time, Protestants, and the whole transaction is in accordance
with the spirit of the age then passing away. They who take the
opposite view dwell on certain mistakes in detail. It is not a point
of much importance, but I have narrated the event, as according
to the authorities, it occurred.
VOL. VII. C
18 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, to be destroyed. His festivals were to be abolished, the
> ^ — - service, office, antiphoiis, collects, and prayers in his
Cranmer. naiiic Were to be erased and put out of all books.*
1533-56. The destruction of the shrine of St. Thomas may be
regarded as tlie final overthrow of the monastic system
in England, and of the worship of saints. Of this system,
Thomas a Becket was the representative to the EngUsh
mind ; and if he were no longer to receive latria, it would
be offered to none else. Hence the pohcy of the govern-
ment to arm its officials with power in case of resistance ;
to surround the overthrow of Becket's shrine with legal
pomp, and to make appeal to the prejudices of the people.
It was the most decided step, next to the renunciation
of the papal supremacy, which had as yet been taken.
Upon tliis point Cranmer's mind never afterwards wavered ;
and Henry, by the retention of the abbey lands, had no
choice but to support him.
The affairs of the cathedral, however, were not so bad
as Prior Goldwell and his brethren had been led to
suppose. When the cathedral was once more restored to
the seculars, prebendal stalls, under the new constitution,
were offered to those of the monks who might be willing
to conform to the new statutes.
On the 20th of March, 1539, a commission was directed
to the archbishop and others, authorising them to draw
up a form by which, under the seal of the prior and
convent, the priory of Christ Church might be surren-
dered to the king. They were required to make an
inventory of the goods, chattels, plate, precious ornaments,
and money, belonging to the unfortunate monks ; and all
that was movable was to be consigned to the master of
the jewel-house in the Tower of London. The value of
the jewels alone from the shrine of Becket must have
* Wilkins, iii. 848.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 19
been incalculable. Of their disposal we hear little. They
were soon dispersed, from the royal gaming table, among
the Eussells, the Seymours and the other courtiers who
sprang from the royal favour to be, no doubt, a blessing
to the country, as nutritious herbs from a dung-hill.
The king, who had once more addressed his powerfid
mind to business, took measures for reconstructing the
chapters in those cathedrals from which the usurping
monks had now been ousted. It was a kind of em-
ployment in which Henry delighted, and he evidently
found pleasure in letting Cranmer perceive that, occupied
though he was by many things, he understood these
matters quite as well as the archbishop, whose whole
attention was given to ecclesiastical affairs. Henry, con-
scious of his intellectual superiority, took pride in causing
it to be felt in every detail of office.
His readiness to discuss and his patience u:ider con-
tradiction, so long as the contradiction was confined to
words, endeared him to all men of business, though per-
haps many of them felt that the king, who to-day con-
versed with his minister hke an intimate friend, might be
as eager to sign his execution on the morrow as he had
been to receive intelligence of poor Ann Boleyn's death.
The king himself drew up an extensive scheme, or, as
Cranmer calls it, a device, for the re-establishment of the
chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, which he intended
should be a model for all the cathedrals of the new
foundation. One of the reasons why the king took such
a personal interest m these proceedings was that he
sought, through the new dioceses he established, and
through the reorganisation of the cathedral chapters,
where such new organisation was required, to conceal or
cover the iniquitous uses to which he had applied so
much of the monastic property. He so prided himself
1533-56.
20 LIVES OF THE
CH.vp. upon his sell erne or device for the reformation of Canter-
• r^ — • bury Cathedral that he directed Sadler, his ambassador
Cranmer. to Scotkud, to lay it before the Scotch king, " that he
1533-56. might see the useful purposes to ivhich religious houses
might be applied." *
The scheme, a copy of which has been preserved, is
admirable. He proposed to establish a provost, twelve
prebendaries, six preachers, readers or professors of
humanity, divinity, civil law, and physic ; twenty stu-
dents of divinity, ten to have exhibitions at Oxford, and
ten at Cambridge ; sixty grammar scholars, with a master ;
eight petty canons to sing in the choir, twelve singing
men, ten choristers, a choir master, a gospeler, an epi-
stoler, two sacristans, a butler and under butler, a caterer,
a chief cook, an under cook, two porters, twelve alms-
men, and various subordinate officers : all of them tho-
roughly endowed, having a separate fund for repairs, and
for charitable distributions. f
Nothing was done in a niggardly spirit. All was
designed to place the chapter of the Metropolitan Church
on a footing which would enable it to maintain the
character for a splendid hospitality by which it had been
distinguished from the first foundation of our Church and
its metropolitan cathedral by Augustine. A copy of the
scheme was sent to the archbishop, and another copy
to the prior and convent.
Cranmer objected — writing to Crumwell, for the arch-
bishop was not the king's chief adviser and commu-
nicated with him through the only real minister of the
crown at this time — to the appointment of prebendaries.
He would have both name and office abolished. In
fact, he was ambitious to have the sole management
of the cathedral ; but, as usual, he had no plan of
* Sadler's State Papers. f Remains, i. 291.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY, 21
his own: lie could only criticise the scheme or device craf.
. in.
which was sent to him. He begrudfred the endow- ^ — . — '
• o AA Thomas
ment of the prebendaries, amounting to about, £1,200 a Cranmer.
year, according to the present valuation ; and he main- io33-56.
tained, that the money might be " altered to a more
expedient use." He proposed that, instead of preben-
daries, there should be established twenty divines, with a
diminished income ; and that the whole apparatus of
readers and professors should be rejected as useless.
Although the cathedral establishments have not, of late
years, been rendered so serviceable in the cause of rehgion
as might have been wished, yet it is to the abuse of pa-
tronage that the fault is to be chiefly traced ; and they will
probably never become what they are designed to be, a
provision for learned men — those who are not called to be
pastors, but whose business it is to edify the body of
Christ,* — until every canon or prebendary be compelled
to perpetual residence, and be prohibited, under any pre-
tence, from holding; a livino; m commendam with a stall.
A pastor should devote the whole of his time to his
flock, but as God has appointed in His church not only
pastors but also prophets and teachers, there ought to
be provision made for those, who are to be employed in
learned labours for the perfecting of the saints.
But although the archbishop had not shown much
administrative wisdom in the management of the convent,
and although he was obstructive rather than co-operative
in the formation of the new chapter, he was anxious to
secure for himself the patronage ; and passing over the
venerable and munificent prior, he urged the appointment
of Dr. Crome as the first dean.f Of this no complaint can
* Ephes. iv. 10, 11.
•)■ The influence of the archbishop with the king was not sufficient
to prevent him from making a mere political appointment, and Nicolas
22 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, be fairly made, for Dr. Crome was a reformer, and Dr.
-^ — r-^ — ' Gold well would have been a hindrance to the archbishop
Cranmtr. i^i many of the measures which he was already devising
1533-56. fQj. i]^Q (TQod of the Church. Dr. Goldwell was offered
the first stall next to the dean in the new foundation, or
a pension on his retirement. He naturally did not choose
to take the second place in a cathedral over which he had
long presided, if not wisely yet with munificence, and
he accepted a pension equivalent to what Avould now
amount to £800 a year.*
The pensions settled on other members of the priory,
who refused appointments under the new system, were
here, and elsewhere, considerable ; and from documents
in the augmentation office, we infer that they were re-
gularly paid.
The treatment of the priory of Christ Church, which
had, for many years, formed the chapter of the cathedral,
is the more worthy of note since it tends to contradict
the accusations brought wholesale against rehgious houses
by Protestant inquisitors of Crumwell's appointment.
Among the convents most maligned, was that of Christ
Church, Canterbury. We have seen that in one respect,
for the gross impostures of the inferior members winked
at by the superiors, the convent deserved condemnation.
Wotton became the first dean of Canterbury under the new founda-
tion. Cranmer's endeavour to obtain power over his chapter was only
the continuation of an old controversy. To a secular chapter the diocesan
was only the visitor ; in a chapter of regulars he was regarded as the
abbot, but there was a continual struggle to make his authority merely
nominal. This dispute has prevailed at Canterbury from the earliest
times. The archbishop's power as de jure abbot was reduced to the
merest form in the twelfth century.
* It is presumed that Goldwell died in 1553, as his name does not
appear in the exchequer return of pensions payable to retired members
of religious houses in that or any subsequent year.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 23
But the charge of immorahty, beyond what is imphecl in
this assertion, except among a few individuals, who were _,
' ^ '^ 1 i* 1 1 Thomas
justly punished, is disproved by the fact, that of the twelve Cranmer.
prebendaries appointed by the archbishop or the king, as 1533-56.
they divided the patronage, eight had been monks of the
dissolved monastery ; or rather, we might say, all had
been monks except two, for both Thomas Gold well and
WilHam Wychope, though they preferred a pension, had
each the option of a stall.
The ten minor canons and nine scholars, or choristers,
were reappointed, and pensions or gratuities were offered
to all for whom the dean and chapter were unable to find
suitable situations.* We are consequently brought to
this alternative — either the inquisitors appointed by
CrumweU were hbellers or Thomas Cranmer was a
patron of immorahty.
One transaction must be noted, as it tends to the credit
of Cranmer's character. When the commission for regu-
lating the constitution of the cathedral body was sitting,
the reform of the school passed under review. The
predominant middle-class feeling here displayed itself, and
it was proposed to exclude the children of the poor.
The usual arguments, with which we were famihar
some thirty or forty years ago, were produced. The
children of husbandmen, it was said, were " more meet
for the plough and to be artificers than to occupy
the place of the learned sort." This notion Cranmer
nobly combated. He pointed to the fact, that the children
* The amount of pensions granted to monks who were ousted from
their houses throughout the country was considerable, and tells in
favour of the monasteries. Men against whom no charge coidd be
brought were bribed to resign. To the superiors of houses the pensions
varied, according to modern computation, from £2,000 a year to £60.
Priors of cells generally received from £130 to £200. This also speaks
for the credit of the king's goverament.
24 LIVES OF THE
of the poor were often endowed " with more singular
gifts of nature, which are also gifts of God, such as
Cranmer. cloqucnce, memory, apt pronunciation, sobriety, and such
1533-oG. like, and that also commonly they were more apt to
apply to their study than is the gentleman's son delicately
educated." He combated the vulgar notion that, " if the
poor man's son received the same advantages of education
as the son of the rich, there would be none to perform
the humbler duties of life ; and as we have, it was urged,
as much need of ploughmen as of any other state, so that
all sorts of men should not go to school."
He contended that to refuse to afford to children with
high intellectual capabilities the means and opportunity of
cultivating their endowments was to act du^ectly in opposi-
tion to the God who gave tliem, and, said the archbishop
with eloquent sarcasm : — " to say the truth, I take it that
none of us all liere, being gentlemen born (as I think),* but
had our beginning that way, from a low base parentage : and
through the benefit of learning, and other civil knowledge,
for the most part all gentlemen ascend to their estate."
It was in the interests of learning, rather than in
the interests of the poor, that Cranmer argued ; though
in doing so, the rights of the poor were vindicated.
The difficulty, at this time, was to prevail upon men to
accept a learned education. They were bribed to do so
by the offer of a cheap education ; and of that education
the poor, if so minded, had as much right to avail them-
selves as the rich. Of that right the middle classes, now
rising into importance, would have deprived the poor, the
consequence of which exclusiveness would have been an
insult to the industrial classes, while its tendency would
have been also to diminish the number of scholars.
* Strype, 126. Was the parenthesis designed as an attack upon
Crumwell ? None of the commissioners were high-born.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. lo
This point Cranmer carried ; but although the arch- chap.
bishop defended his cathedral, when attempts were made r-^— -
to compel the chapter to grant long leases in favour of the cranmer.
courtiers, his relations to the cathedral body, if not un- 1533-56.
friendly, never became intimate.
We now revert to general history. It had long been an
object with Cranmer to induce the king to estabhsh political
relations ■v^^th the German princes ; for he foresaw clearly
that this would open the way to further reformations in
the church.
At his suggestion Melancthon had been frequently
invited by the king to visit England ; and Melancthon had
always declined. His reason, as assigned in his private
correspondence, was his conviction that Henry had only
a political and not a rehgious object in view.* This
was probably the feeling prevalent among the German
princes. But affairs on the Continent were so unsettled in
the year 1538, that on the renewal of negotiations with
them on the part of Henry they sent an embassy to
England. It was a legation singidar in its character, the
members of it appearing before the kmg in a two-fold
character, that of ambassadors and that of divines ; mi-
nisters of man and ministers of God. They were not on
that account the less welcome to Henry, who was not
unwilling to display his abiUties as a statesman and his
learning, which was not inconsiderable, as a theologian.
He even proposed to conduct a theological discussion Avith
them in person. At the head of the embassy were Francis
Burgrat, chancellor to the Elector of Saxony; George
a Boyneburgh, a nobleman of Hesse ; and Frederick
Myconius, superintendent of the reformed church at
Gotha.f They represented John Frederick, Elector of
Saxony, and Phihp, Landgrave of Hesse, and came for the
* Bumet, Strype, Seckendorf. j Ibid,
26 LIVES OF THE
CH.ip. ostensible purpose of forming a league against the pope,
. /- - and, by a consultation with the English divines, of drawing
CranmeJ. ^P ^ commou Coufessiou of faith. But an obstacle pre-
1633-06. sented itself at the commencement of their proceedings.
It was proposed that the Church of England should accept
as its doctrinal formulary the Confession of Augsburg.
To this indignity Henry, always right-hearted when the
honour of the country was concerned, would not for a
moment consent. He had no objection to discuss the
articles, and to hear what the Protestants had to say. He
had no objection, if, after discussion, the Protestants were
found to be Catholic or orthodox, to blend these articles
with an Enghsh formulary ; but a German formulary the
Church of England must not accept ; rather, on the con-
trary, the Germans must subscribe to a Confession of
faith drawn up in England. Soon after the arrival of
the legation, a royal commission was issued for a con-
ference with the Protestants ; and the commission re-
presented fairly the two great sections of the Church
of England, the men of the old learning and the men
of the new learning. At the head of the former was the
Bishop of Durham, Dr. Tonstal, and the latter were under
the leadership of the Primate himself. While the dis-
cussion related to the chief articles of belief, there was
Httle or no difference of opinion. The confession asserted
the Catholic faith. But when the Protestants insisted on
certain reforms requisite to reduce the Church of England
to their own level, then were opened the flood-gates
of controversy, which the king had no inclination, at the
present time, to close. The archbishop laboured to effect
a compromise between the opposing parties, and the
position of his mind at this time, qualified him to act
as a mediator. He would accept the regulations and
the dogijias of the Church of England as they had been
AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 27
transmitted ; but, with the exception of the dogma of ch.\p.
transubstantiation, he was wilhng, or rather desirous, to — -^ — '
• n 1 t n Tjy 1 Thomas
make great concessions for the sake of peace, it he Cranmer.
may be said to have had any definite object in view, it was 1533-56.
to unite all parties who were opposed to the pope, by in-
ducing or compeUing them to adopt one Confession of
faith.
On transubstantiation, ere long to become the test of
orthodoxy on the part of the papist, the dogma for
the denial of wliich hfe was to be sacrificed on the part
of the Protestants, nothing was now said. The Lutherans
had tacitly agreed, that it should be an open question, and
well would it have been for the peace of Christendom
if to that determination they had been permitted to
adhere. Besides, the difference between consubstantiatiou
and transubstantiation appeared so slight that they
were wilhng to avoid discussion. But the points on
which the Lutherans insisted were the administration
of the Eucharist in both kinds, the renunciation of the
practice of private masses,* and the constrained cehbacy
of the clergy.
On the latter point Cranmer felt a personal interest,
but probably he would have preferred that the subject
should not at this time be mooted.
The cehbacy of the clergy was, as all admitted, not a
divine law ; it was a disciphuary regulation of the Church.
A regulation of the Church, however, admitted of a dis-
pensation from the Church. Dispensations for marriage
had been occasionaUy granted by the pope ; and the
papal power to grant dispensations had now been con-
ferred upon the Archbishop of Canterbury. He, being
himself a married man, had granted his dispensations
* This was to them important, because their object was to convert
the mass into a commimion.
28 LIVES OP THE
^m^ liberally, and many of the clergy had not acted with his
"■-— ^> — ' own discretion. Instead of keepino; their wives in a state
1 nomas , ^ t^
Cranmer. of Oriental seclusion, they had paraded them before the
io32-o6. -^vorld, some of their wives having previously lived with
them as concubines. This had militated against pubhc
opinion ; a large majority of the laity being especially pre-
judiced against a married clergy. It would have been,
therefore, for his advantage, and for the benefit of the
clergy who liad acted under his dispensation, to have
avoided for the present any discussion on the merits of
the case. On the other subjects, Cranmer's opinion ac-
corded with those of the Germans, with this difference,
that they considered as essential, what he desired to see
refoi'med w^ithout admitting that a reform w^as obliga-
tory, or to be immediately enforced. On the subject
of auricular confession, his opinion was perhaps now,
what in his catechism he declared it to be ten years
later. At that time, he desired to leave it optional,
but he did not wish to see the practice wholly aban-
doned.
* Henry soon perceived, that the legation appeared at his
court in the capacity of missionaries rather than as am-
bassadors ; that what to him was of secondary was to them
of primaiy importance ; and he knew that in that charac-
ter they were unpopular. When he came to converse
with them on politics, he found that they were inclined
to treat him as if the German princes were his equals,
whereas the King of England was the equal not of the
princes but of their emperor. The proud and patriotic
Henry would not permit the German princes to approach
him, except as an aristocracy seeking the protection of a
sovereign. He was willing to form an alliance with the
Germans against the pope, but not as one of a league ; if
a league was formed, the King of England must be their
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 29
leader, and of that league the sovereign head.* He must chap.
be to them not less than the emperor now was. Henry ■ — -r-^ —
• 1 n • T, Thomas
was always a patriot ; he was not a foreigner, or the son cmnmer.
of a foreigner. 1533-06.
. It was this feehng on the part of Henry, which induced
him to treat the legation with an amount of discourtesy
and neglect which was perceived and resented. The
archbishop complained of it ; and in a letter which he
wrote to Crumwell, we have a description of the kind of
treatment to which the representatives of the German
princes were subjected : —
Concerning the orators of Grermany, I am advertised that
they are very evil lodged where they be ; for besides the multi-
tude of rats daily and nightly running in their chambers (which
is no small disquietness), the kitchen standeth directly against
their parlour where they daily dine and sup, and by reason
thereof the house savoureth so ill that it offendeth all men that
come into it. Therefore, if your lordship do but offer them a
more commodious house to demore in, I doubt not but that they
will accept that offer most thankfully. Albeit, I am sure that
they will not remove for this time, f
The conservatives, now supported by the king, refused
to be persuaded by the archbishop, when he urged them
* Bishop Gardyner had urged this on another occasion. " The
king," he says, "is a sovereign magistrate, vested with imperial jiu-is-
diction ; and in consequence of that prerogative, head of the Church of
England : but the princes of Germany are but dukes at the highest.
They are no more than subordinate governors, and such as make no
scruple to own their emperor for their chief lord. Now, since we
prove the king head of the Church of England, from his civil supre-
macy, it win follow by parity of reason that the emperor is head of
the Churches in Germany. Things standing thus, which way can these
princes be in a condition to perfect a treaty, or settle an agreement of
religion, between us ? Which way can this be done, without the con-
sent of his imperial majesty the head of their Church ? " — Collier, iv. 323.
I Remains, letter ccxxxi. Cotton MSS. Cleop. E. v. f. 212.
30 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, to concede to the very moderate proposals of the Germans ;
— ^^ and all that the archbishop could obtain for his friends
Cranmer. was a dlsmlssal from tlie king so courteous and civil, as
1533-56. almost to amount to the incivility of showing, that the hour
of their departure was an hour of relief to the royal mind.
This visit of the German Lutherans to England was,
however, a crisis in the life of Archbishop Cranmer.
Their private conversation made a more lasting impression
upon the archbishop's mind, than their discussions in
public ; and at this period, those seeds of Protestantism
were sown in his mind which, in the subsequent reign,
produced such abundant fruit.
As regards the king, his attention was now withdrawn
from continental affairs by the immediate exigencies of
the home government. Henry, by virtue of his conceded
supremacy, had decided upon the dissolution of the mona-
steries ; but it did not follow that the confiscated property
should all of it pass into the royal treasury. The heirs
and representatives of the founders of rehgious houses,
who had always reserved certain privileges for themselves,
might fairly claim the property, if it were to be alienated
from the uses to which it had been devoted by their
pious ancestors. It is said, that Cranmer and some of the
clersiy who acted with him, proposed that a portion of it
should be dedicated to the service of religion and charity.
If the proposal was ever formally made, I have seen no
proof of it ; and I should doubt its ever having taken a
more formal shape than that of a suggestion in the ser-
mons of Latimer. The clergy did not concern themselves
much about monastic property, and some of them, as was
the case with Cranmer, shared in the spoils. Still, enough
was said and done to render it necessary to secure it for
the king by the provisions of an act of parliament. Crum-
well therefore received orders to prepare a bill, or he may
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 31
himself have suggested the proceeding, although for the chap.
introduction of such a measure a more inconvenient time - — ,J — •
could not have been chosen. The disturbances in Lincoln- cranmer.
shire and the insurrection in Yorkshire, which assumed the 1533-56.
liifirh-soundins^ title of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and al-
most amounted to a rebellion, had indeed been put down
by the strong arm and the energetic measures of the king.
But no one can read the state papers of the period with-
out perceiving, that the government had been thoroughly
alarmed, and had still grounds for anxiety.* Henry,
moreover, on enquiry, found that the strength of the in-
surrection lay in the honest fear that the king — led astray
by his plebeian counsellor, more obnoxious, on account
of his humble origin, to the common people than to the
aristocracy — was about to overthrow the ecclesiastical
institutions of the country, and with them the rights and
hberties of the people — the veiy throne itself. As we
have seen it to be invariably the case in all preceding
insurrections, so was it now : loyalty to the king was pro-
claimed, and perhaps felt ; it was only to rescue him from
his counsellors that the people rose. Those counsellors
had already confiscated the lesser monasteries ; they had
pronounced sentence on the abbeys and greater mona-
steries ; and where was all this to stop ? Monastic pro-
perty having been confiscated, would not church property
follow ? At the same time complaint was made of new
inventions, contrary to the law of God ; it was felt to be
a hardship that the Pater Noster was turned into an Our
Father, and that the Ten Commandments should be said
in English instead of the Latin, to which the people were
accustomed. The feelings of discontent were not confined
to the lower orders of society ; the king became aware,
that the lay lords in parliament, though ready to draw
* State Papers, i. 526.
^9
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
ni.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
their swords and to die, if need sliould be, in the king's
quarrel, felt that the people had right on their side ; and
in both houses of parliament the reformations already ac-
complished were cordially snpported by a minority of the
lords spiritual.* The difficulties of the government were
also increased by those blasphemous publications, of which
mention has been made, and which, under pretence of zeal
in the Protestant cause, had already made that cause
to stink in the nostrils of peaceable and quiet subjects,
who had meekly submitted to changes in the Church
authorised by convocation and parliament, but who were
piously alarmed when they found every species of wrong
and robbery encouraged under the name of religion. These
had been, by Crumwell, it will be remembered, coun-
tenanced, in order that the public mind might be inflamed
against the monasteries ; but it was very frequently found
in the plays Avhich he patronised, that while the monks
were held up to ridicule, no fact or person was held sacred.
His ability, when now he yielded to the superior judgment
of the king, and was prepared to carry his measures, in
being able to maintain his character as a man of God,
among the Puritans, will be admired or censured, as it is
viewed from the intellectual or the moral side.
The king was determined first to proclaim to the in-
* After the passing of the act, a contemporary Protestant wrote thus :
— " How mercyfuUy, how plentifully and purely hath God sende his
worde mito us here in England ! Agayne, how unthankfully, how
rebelliously, how carnally and unwillingly do we receive it ! Who ys
there almost that will have a Bible but he must be compelled thereto ?
How loth be our priestes to teach th' commaundements, the articles of
the faith, and the Pater Noster in English ! Agayne, how unwillinge
be the people to lerne it ! Yee they gest at it, calling it the new Pater
Noster and new lernynge ; fo that as, helpe me God, if Ave amend not,
I feare we shalbe in moare bondage and blindnes then ever we vrere."
— Archaiologia, xxiii. 59.
.\RCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY, 33
siirgeiits that they liad suffered tliemselves to be un-
necessarily alarmed ; and then to keep the advocates of
Protestantism within certain hmitations and boundaries,
by introducing a bill-^which afterwards became known 1533-06.
and reprobated as the act of six articles, or, as the Puritans,
who liked to give hard names to hard acts, were wont to
call it, " the whip with six strings."
By this bill the King hoped to pacify the conservatives,
whom the late events had rendered numerous. The bill
was to satisfy them that no revolution was intended, and to
give answer to the question. Where is this to stop ? They
would then, it was hoped, submit to the appropriation, on
the part of the king, of the confiscated abbey lands ; and
tlie agents of Crumwell were busy among all classes of the
people to win their assent. The old aristocracy felt that
their claim to the lands their ancestors had given away
was not likely to be admitted, and to them was held out
a promise of due consideration when the spoils were
divided. The younger courtiers and new-made lords
were aware that by royal favour, so capriciously exercised,
their own turn would come ; or that by success at the royal
gambhng table, they would themselves profit by an act
so profitable to the king. The House of Commons was
satisfied by the prospect held out to it, that the enriched
king would never more demand a subsidy of his people.
Henry was, no doubt, sincere when he made a promise
to that effect; but the sincerity of a gambler depends
upon a cast of the dice. To pay his debts of honour
was, in his opinion, more important than to keep his
promise to the Commons.
This is not surprising ; but what does surprise us is, to
find that in this parliament, which gave the coup de grace
to the monastic institute, there sat twenty-seven abbots,
of whom eighteen voted at the second, and seventeen at
VOL. VIl. D
34 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, the third rcadinc; of the bill which transferred the pro-
III • •
• r^ — - perty of their houses to the treasurj^ of the king. There
Cranmer. had been considerable jobbing in the monasteries, as
1532-56. soon as it was known that on their dissolution the kinfj
was determined. Long leases, which amounted to dona-
tions of estates, were made ; and Crumwell probably had
the means of exposing some of the abbots who with
their brethren had acted thus dishonourably; although,
in making the best of these circumstances, the abbots
themselves may have thought that they were only doing
what was perfectly justifiable. The abbots also and
priors were hberally pensioned, and few suffered ma-
terially, so far as they were personally concerned.
So important in the eyes of Henry did the work of this
])arliament, which was to abolish for ever a time-honoured
institution of the countr}^, appear to be, that he deter-
mined upon opening it Avith more than ordinary cere-
mony, together with a solemn religious service. He was
not one of those weak men who despise little things,
and he fully appreciated the importance to all, except
a few — rather pretenders to wisdom than really wise — of
a coup de theatre. Minutely did the king therefore
arrange all the particulars of an equestrian procession
from Westminster Palace to Westminster Abbey, and of
the rehgious procession within the sacred walls of that
splendid edifice. From the gentlemen and squires, who
headed the procession, to the dukes, marquises, earls,
viscounts, and barons, each wdth his squire at his side,
and all on horseback,, the king attended to every detail.
The archbishop's horse awaited him, as he landed at
Westminster, at the head of the steps ; and riding by the
side of the Archbishop of York, the two primates, each
having his cross borne before him, headed the bishops
and abbots.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. So
When they disinoimted at the king's " lighting place,"
the west door of the abbey was thrown open, and a
splendid vista was revealed to the eye. The lord abbot
was there in pontijicalibus^ with mitre, with pastoral staff
pointing inwards, with his gloves, and his sandals : to all
outward appearance, and except in minute particulars
which did not attract the eye of the uninitiated, he was
accoutred as a bisliop. His brethren arranged themselves
two and two in their splendid copes. Wlien the king's
procession entered the abbey, they proceeded on foot up
the nave to the choir, where the king took his seat in
" his place royal." At the south side sat the Archbishop
of York, attended by his suffragans of Durham and
Carlisle ; the lords spiritual occupied the south side of
the chancel, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbuiy,
by whose side stood the Bisliop of Eochester, his cross-
bearer.
Assisted by two abbots in j^ontificalibu.s the Bishop of
Carlisle, as chaplain of the House of Lords, sang the mass
of the Holy Ghost, When the mass, at which Cranmer
assisted, was concluded, the archbishop, at the head of
the House of Lords, proceeded to the Parliament House.
Here the king, being seated on the throne, the Lord
Chamberlain declared, in general terms, the causes and
intent for wdiich the parliament had been summoned.
So carefully did Heniy attend to every detail which
might invest the present parliament with a character
of more than ordinary importance, and so intent was
he on shifting the blame of the dissolution of the
monasteries from his o'wn shoulders to those of the
three estates of the realm, that he directed the Journal
of the House of Lords to commence with this solemn
sentence : —
A parliament commenced and held at Westminster on the
D -2
36 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. 28tli day of the month of April, in the year of the reign of the
- J . most dread and powerful prince Henry the Eighth by the grace
Thomas ^f q^^j King of England and France, Defender of the Faith,
1533-56. Lord of Ireland, and on Earth Supreme Head of the Chm-ch
of England, the Thirty-first.
To the praise and glor}'^ of the Omnipotent God, the honour,
decorum, peace, quiet, tranquillity, security, and reformation
of the whole realm, commonwealth, and sovereignty of England,
in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, after solemn mass fitly and devoutly
celebrated, and the Divine aid most humbly implored and in-
voked, on Monday, viz. the 28th day of the month of April, in
the year of the reign of the said Lord King the thirty-first, on
the first day of this Parliament, the Lord King himself in the
Chamber, commonly called the Parliament Chamber, within
his Palace of Westminster, sat on his royal throne, being then
present the nobles and lords of the whole realm of England
both temporal and spiritual, with the commons then summoned
to Parliament and convoked by royal mandate.*
On consulting the journals, we discover no report of a
debate, or even a bint that any discussion, at any time,
took place ; but we have indirect evidence, to which we
shall presently refer, that some discussions certainly took
place.
Business commenced on the 5tli of May, when, at the
king's suggestion, a committee was appointed to report
upon the different opinions now in vogue on the subject
of religion, and to suggest a measure for the promotion of
unity. Here it was that the angry discussions must have
occurred, if angry discussions there were. The committee
was selected very fairly from members, as we should
now say, of opposite sides of the house. At the head
of the men of the " nev/ learning " sat the Archbishop
of Canterbury, while the men of tlie " old learn-
ing " found a leader in the Archbishop of York. It is
* Lords' Joui"uals, i. 103.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 37
probable that the committee was formed under the con- chap.
viction that they would not be able to come to an ^-^-r-^ — •
agreement, and that therefore tlie suggestion of the Cranmer.
measure to be adopted would be left to the government. 1533-06.
Crumwell was nommated to serve on the committee.
This nomination must have placed him in an awkward
position ; he could not side with tlie Protestants, and
certainly had no ambition to give a triumph to the Papists.
He was appointed to serve on the committee out of
deference to his office as vicegerent, but he probably
never attended ; for, while the committee was sitting, he
was busily engaged in carrying through the house the
great measnre which he and the king had at heart : for
the statute of six articles was not their first or chief object.
The dissolution of the monasteries had been effected by an
act of the royal supremacy ; but the appropriation of the
confiscated property by the crown required an act of par-
liament, without which the legality of sales and leases
might have been called in question. How careful Heniy
was to produce on the minds of the public the right im-
pression, may be seen from the preamble to the bill. The
preamble to bills in this reign are of httle service as
historical documents, for the king had no special regard
to truth ; but they are serviceable as showing what the
king wished to impress as truth upon the minds of his
subjects. He first created a pubhc opinion, and then
sustained it.
Where divers and sundry abbots, priors, abbesses, prior-
esses, and other ecclesiastical crovernors and sovernesses of
divers monasteries, abbathies, priories, nunneries, colleges, hos-
pitals, houses of friars, and other religious and ecclesiastical
houses and places within this our sovereign Lord, the King's
realm of England and Wales, of their own free and voluntary
minds, good wills, and assents, without constraint, coaction, or
38 LIVES OF TKE
CITAP. compulsion of an}'^ manner of person or person?, sithen the
, ^^^ fourth day of February the twenty-seventh year of the reign of
Thomas our now most dread sovereign Lord, Ly the due order and course
,-oo ',. of the common laws of this his realm of EnQ;land, and Ly their
sufficient writings of record, under their covenant and common
seals, have severally given, granted, and by the same their
writings severally confirmed all their said monasteries, abbathies,
priories, nunneries, colleges, hospitals, houses of friars, and other
religious ecclesiastical houses and places, and all their sites,
circuits, and precincts of the same, and all and singular their
manors, lordships, granges, meases, lands, tenements, meadows,
pastures, rents, reversions, services, words, tithes, pensions,
portions, churches, chapels, advowsons, patronages, annuities,
rif^hts, entries, conditions, commons, leets, courts, liberties,
privileges, and franchises, appertaining or in any wise belonging
to any such monastery, abbathy, priory, nunnery, college, hos-
pital, house of friars, and other religious and ecclesiastical
houses and places, or to any of them, by w^hatsoever name or
corporation they or any of them were then named or called,
and of wha.t order, habit, religion, or other kind or quality so-
ever they or any of them w'ere then reputed, known, or taken,
to have and to hold all the said monasteries, abbathies, priories,
nimneries, colleges, hospitals, houses of friars, and other reli-
gious and ecclesiastical houses and places, sites, circuits, pre-
cincts, manors, lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, rents,
reversions, services, and all other the premisses, to our said
sovereign lord, his heirs and successors for ever, and the same
their said monasteries, abbathies, priories, nunneries, colleges,
hospitals, houses of friars, and other religious and ecclesiastical
houses and places, sites, circuits, precincts, manors, lordships,
errancies, meases, lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, rents,
reversions, services, and other the premisses, voluntarily, as is
aforesaid, have renounced, left, and forsaken, and every of them
hath renounced, left, and forsaken.*
From an examination of the Lords' Journals, I am led
to the conclusion that, when a government measure was
* Statutes p,t Large, ii. 20;').
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 39
iutrocluced into the House of Lords, no division was ch.ip.
called for, or permitted ; but tliat those who declined to -- — ^^ — •
vote in favour of it obtained permission to stay away, cmnmcr.
The two archbishops and their suffragans assented to the iJ33-56.
confiscation of the monastic property ; and though it is
possible, as it is sometimes stated, that they suggested a
better application of it, yet this does not appear. Of the
abbots, as I have already had occasion to remark, eighteen
sanctioned the second reading of the bill by their presence.
We may presume that, at the third reading, some oppo-
sition was intended ; for on that occasion the king him-
self attended, as if for the purpose of overawing the
members. Henry was accustomed, throughout his reign,
to attend occasionally the debates in the house. Ko
one knew better than he how to assume, and when to
throw off, the trappings of royalty ; he made his appear-
ance without ceremony on these occasions, and generally,
as far as I can discover, when he had a personal object
to carry. What is very remarkable is, that he never
once attended when the bill was introduced which was
intended to abolish diversity of opinion on certain articles
concerning the Christian religion — " the whip Avith six
strings."
The preliminary measures to the mtroduction of this
bill were taken on the 16th of May. On that day, there
was a full attendance in the house, and among the lords
spiritual sat the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was
natural that Crumwell should shrink from introducing a
measure which, though he could not have anticipated all
the clamour it excited among his former supporters and
friends, he was quite aware would be to them very un-
palatable. The bill, therefore, was confided to the Duke
of Norfolk. He remarked that there was no probability
of their receiving a report from the committee appointed
40 LIVES OF THE
CHAr. ou the 5th of iMay, and therefore he submitted tlie six
III. . . .
— -r— ^ articles to be freelj^ discussed, not ni committee, but by
Thomas
Cmnmer. the wholc llOUSC.
1533-56. ^"'i;ig gj^ questions to be discussed were the follow-
ing :—
1. Whether the Eucharist be really the body of our
Lord without transubstantiation.
2. Whether the Eucharist should be given to tlie people
in both kinds.
3 Whether vows of chastity made by men and women
ought to be observed de jure divino.
4. Whether de jure divino private masses should be
retained.
5. Whether it be lawful de jure divino for priests to
marry.
6. Whether de jure divino auricular confession is
necessary.
We cannot say that the house came to any hasty
decision on these important questions ; and it is neces-
sary, for tlie elucidation of this portion of Craumer's
history, that, by a reference to the Lords' Journals, we
should trace the passage of this bill through the house,
and note the attendances both of the king and of the
archbishop.
The questions were proposed, as we have just seen,
on the 16th of May. On the 19th tlie king was present ;
but it was not to discuss these questions. The reason of
the royal presence is to be found in the fact that this
day was read, for the third time, the bill to enable the
king to apply to his own purposes the confiscated
property of the dissolved monasteries ; nothing was said
on the subject of the six articles.
The appropriation to the crown of the monastic
property being the great woi-k of tlie session, tlie parlia-
AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 41
ment was prorogued by commission, on tlie 23rd of May. chap.
It had been found that the temporal peers had been un- - ^^^'
wilhng to engage in a theological discussion ; and instead cvanm!'r
of debating the articles in the whole house, they had i533-5o
appointed a committee of the lords spiritual to confer
•with the king as to the answer to be returned to the
questions which had been already propounded. The king
evidently assumed that whatever might be determined in
a committee so constituted would be at once accepted
and adopted by the house. Consequently, when parha-
ment resumed its sittings on the last day of May, the
lord chancellor brought a message from the kina,
stating that not only the lords spiritual, but his majesty
himself acting with them, had studied the whole subject,
and had laboured so as to have arrived at a unanimous
conclusion. He desired, therefore, that a statute should be
enacted, not, observe, to compel his subjects to subscribe
to the articles, but, which is a very different thing, to
prohibit them from speaking against the articles whicli
would now become part and parcel of the law of the land.
Two committees were then appointed, each to recommend
the draft of the statute ; the house reserving to itsfelf the
right of adopting, rejecting, or modifying them as might
seem to the house expedient. The committees consisted,
one of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Ely,
the Bishop of St. Asaph, and Dr. Petre ; and the other of
the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Durham and
Winchester, with Dr. Tregonwell.
It was probably foreseen that by the two committees
thus formed and prepared to act on discordant principles,
nothing satisfactory would be done ; and again, therefore,
the king took the matter into his own hands. A draft
of a bill of pains and penalties was prepared by the king
him^^elf, and Avas introduced into the house on tlie 7t]i of
42 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. June by the Archbishop of York.* Hence we may
-— -.-^ — fairly suppose that the Archbishop of Canterbuiy, as he
Cranmer. was uot cmployecl ou the occasion, had given an opinion
io33-5G. luifavourable to the proposed measure.
But other steps had been taken before the bill of pains
and penalties was introduced. The judgment of convo-
cation on the questions proposed for discussion had been
sought for and obtained. The convocation held a session
on the 2nd of June, and the lower house being repre-
sented by its prolocutor, the answers returned were : —
1. That in tlie blessed sacrament of the altar, by the strength
and efficacy of Christ's mighty word, it being spoken by a priest,
is present really the natural body and blood of our Saviour Jesu
Christ, conceived of the Virgin jNIary, under the form of bread
and wine. And that after consecration there remaineth no
other substance but the substance of his foresaid natural body.
2. That communion in both kinds is not necessary ad salidem,
by the law of Grod, to all persons ; and that it is to be believed
and not doubted of, but that in the flesh and form of bread is
the very blood, and in the blood under the form of wine is the very
flesh, as well apart as though they were both together. 3. That
priests after the order of priesthood received, as afore, may not
marry by the law of God. 4. That vows of chastity or widow-
hood by man or woman made to Grod advisedly be to be observed
by the law of God, and that it exempteth them from other liber-
ties of Christian people, which without that they might enjoy.
5. That it is meet and necessary that private masses be continued
and admitted in this our English Church and congregation, as
* That the bill was drawn by the king is a known fact. — "Wilkins, ill.
848. Ex. MS. Cott. Cleop. E. v. fob 313. It has been said that some
of the more stringent clauses were inserted at the suggestion of the
bishops, contrary to the inclination of the king. This gratuitous asser-
tion is contradicted by facts. On the merits or demerits of the bill the
bishops were divided. The primate and many of his suffragans Avere
the chief opponents to the bill. And it is difficult to understand why
the bishops should be truculent, and the murderer of his wives and
friends have a monopoly of mercy.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CA^"TERBURY. 45
whereby good Christian people ordering themselves accordingly
do receive both godly and goodly consolations and benefits.
And it is agreeable also to God's law. 6. That auricular con-
fession is expedient to be retained and continued, used and fre- i533_56
quented in the Church of God.*
iUthough, on the 7tli of June, the bill was introduced
by the Archbishop of York, yet Cranmer was in his
place, that is to say, he Avas present when the bill was
read the first time. All who were present voted for it ;
the member of the house who dissented from a measure
signified his dissent by absenting himself. On the 9 th of
June the bill was read a second time, and on the 10th it
w^as read the third time by the law officers of the crown.
On both of these occasions Cranmer Avas in his place. He
was also m the house on the 14th, when the bill was
returned with amendments from the Commons, which
amendments being accepted, the amended bill was read a
first and second time. He was present on the 16th, when
the bill was read a third time. He did not attend on the
17th, when no public business was transacted ; and
neither he nor the Archbishop of York was in his place
on the 24th.
On that day there was a conference between the Lords
and the Commons to make a slight alteration in the biU.
It had not yet received the royal assent, but, as it had
passed the two houses, it required all married clergymen
to put away their wives on that very day — the feast of St.
John the Baptist. This would have secured for the married
clergy the respite of nearly a year, and it was now resolved
that the act should come into operation on the 12th of the
following month. Although Cranmer had been present
at all the readings of the bill of pains and penalties
* "Wilkins, iii. 84.5. Ex. reg. Cranmer, fol. 9, et ex. veg. rionvoc.
et Excerpt. Heylin.
44 LIVES or THE
ciiAr, previously to this amendment, liis absence from tlie third
v__^J ' reading of the amended bill is no sign of his disapproving
Crannier. of tlio penalties, and he was present at a later honr of the
1033-56. same day, when the king in person gave to the bill his
royal assent, and then prorogued the parliament. The
king was not present on any single occasion when this
bill was discussed ; * and it is not probable, after the
draft had been decided upon in the royal councils, that
any opposition to it would be offered. But that there was
a decided opposition to the bill, we know from the testi-
mony of Cranmer himself, who appealed to Gardyner
in the next reign, daring him to deny the assertion if
he could. The king did in some way or other silence the
opposition, but he was not unopposed ; the objections
made had been urged at the committee meetings.
That this act concerning the punishment of those who
" either violate or impugn the articles aforesaid " isjustly
called a bloody act, if w^e liave regard to its enactments,
everj^one will admit.
They are as follows : —
/ I. If any person by word, writing, printing, cyphering, or any
otherwise do preach, teach, dispute, or hold opinion, that in the
blessed sacrament of the altar, under form of bread and wine
(after the consecration thereof), there is not present really the
natural body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, conceived
by the Virgin Mary; or that after the said consecration there
remaineth any substance of bread and wine, or any other sub-
* And yet in his address to the Devonshire rebels, in the next reign,
Cranmer asserts that the bill would not have been passed unless the
" King's Majesty had himself come to the Parliament House."
Cranmer's memory perhaps failed him, as was not improbable after the
lapse of several years, and he may have confounded the presence of the
king at the discussions on the monastery bill with those that took place
on the bill of six articles. His assertion is, however, of great value
as stating the sti-ength of the opposition.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEUBURV. 45
stance but the substance of Christ, G-od and Man ; or tliat in CHAP.
the flesh under the form of bread is not the very body of Christ; > ^ — ■
or that with the blood, under the form of wine, is not the very Q.^°^gr.
flesh of Christ as well apart as though they were both together; i533_o6.
or affirm the said sacrament to be of other substance than is
aforesaid ; or deprave the said blessed sacrament : then he shall
be adjudged as an heretic, and suffer death by burning, and
shall forfeit to the king all his lands, tenements, hereditaments,
goods, and chattels, as in case of high treason.
II. That if any person preach in any sermon or collection
openly made, or teach in any common school or congregation,
or obstinately affirm, or defend that the communion of the
blessed sacrament in both kinds is necessary for the health of
man's soul, or ou^ht or should be ministerd in both kinds ; or
that it is necessary to be received by any person, other than
priests, being at mass and consecrating the same :
III. Or that any man, after the order of priesthood received,
may marry or contract matrimony :
IV. Or that any man or woman which advisedly hath vowed
or professed, or should vow or profess, chastity or widowhood
may marry or contract marriage :
V. Or that private masses be not lawful, or not laudable, or
should not be used, or be not agreeable to the laws of God:
VI. Or that auricular confession is not expedient and neces-
sary to be used in the Church of God : he shall be adjudged to
suffer death, and forfeit land and goods as a felon.
If any priest, or other man or woman, which advisedly hath
vowed chastity or widowhood do actually marry or contract
matrimony with another ; or any man which is or hath been a
priest do carnally use any woman to whom he is or hath been
married, or with whom he hath contracted matrimony, or openly
be conversant or familiar with any such woman : both the man
and the woman shall be adjudged felons. Commissions also
shall be awarded to the bishop of the diocese, his chancellor,
commissary, and others, to enquire of the heresies, felonies, and
offences aforesaid. And also justices of peace in their ses-
sions, and every steward, under-sfeward, and deputy-steward,
in their leet or law-day, by the oaths of twelve men, have
40 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, authority to enquire of all the heresies, felonies, and offences
, rz . aforesaid.*
Cranmer. Ih^o the liistoiy of tliis act I have entered the more
1033-56. fully, that the reader may judge for himself how far a
story current of Cranmer's conduct on this occasion is
substantiated by a reference to facts. The authority for
the story is Foxe, and his statement has been repeated,
Avith more or less of eulogy or of rhetoric, by one writer
after another. The following is Foxe's statement : —
At the time of setting forth of the six articles mention was
made before in the story of King Henry VIII., how adventurously
this Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, standing, as it were, j^ost
alone against the whole parliament, disputing and replying
three days together against the said articles.
Insomuch that the king, when neither he could mistake his
reasons, and yet would needs have these articles to pass, re-
quired him to absent himself, for the time, out of the chamber,
while the act should pass, and so he did, and how the king after-
wards sent all the lords of the parliament to Lambeth to cheer
his mind again, that he might not be discouraged.
Foxe refers for his authority, when speaking of Cranmer,
to Ealph Morice, his secretary, an authority we have be-
fore consulted and quoted ; and that Morice was the
authority of Foxe for this statement here made is certain
from his employing the very peculiar expression adopted
by Morice, " post alone." This interesting document re-
mained in manuscript in the library of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, until the year 1859, when it was
published by the Camden Society, under the able
editorship of Mr. Nichols, who has illustrated it by valu-
able and learned notes. The passage in Morice runs
thus : —
But if at the prince's pleasure in cause of religion at any tyme
he was forced to give place, that was don with suche humble
* Pari, lli-st. iii. 149.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 47
protestation, and so knyt upp f(;r the savegarde of his faithe and CHAP.
TTT
conscience, that it hadd byn better his good will had never byn ^ ^ ,
requestid, than so to relente or give over. Which moste dan- Thomas
gerouslie (besides sondrie tymes else) he speciallie attemptid 2,-33_5g
when the VI articles by parliament passed, and when my lorde
Crumwell was in the Tower, at that tyme the booke of articles
of our religion was newlie pennyd ; for even at that season, the
hole rablemente, which he toke to be his frendes, being commis-
sioners with hym, forsoke hym, and his opinion in doctrine, and
so leaving him post alone, revolted altogether on the parte of
Stephen Gardyner bisshopp of Wynchester, as by name bisshopp
Heathe, Shaxton, Thirlby [erasecZ], Daye, and all other of the
meaner sorte, by whome theis so named were chiefelie ad-
vaunced and preservid unto thair dignities.*
We have here a specimen of the manner in vrhicli
Foxe could amphfy and adorn a subject, without adhering
strictly to the truth or violently opposing it. It has been
justly observed that "Foxe speaks largely of tlie stand
made by Cranmer against the six articles, while Morice
says httle."f
Foxe actually transfers to Cranmer's conduct in parlia-
ment w^hat Morice says of his conduct when sitting in the
conference upon the necessary doctrine and erudition of
any Christian man.
The statement, with its full embeUishments, as told in
the storj^ of King Henry Vm., is, after mentioning the act
of six articles, thus presented to the reader : —
Everie man seeing the kings minde so fully addict upon poli-
tike respectes to have these articles passe forward, few or none
in all that parliament would appeare, which either could per-
ceive that was to be defended, or durst defend that they under-
stood to be true, save onelie Cranmer archbishop of Canterbury
who then being married (as is supposed) like a constant patron
of God's cause, took upon him the earnest defence of the truth
* Narratives of the Reformation, ^. 2-18. f Nichols, 248.
48 LIVES OF THE
cn.AJ. oppressed in the parliament, three daies together disp\iting
^^^- , ao-aiust those wicked six articles, bringing forth such allegations
Thomas aud authorities as might easilie have helped the cause, Xisi j^nrs
* raajor vicisset, ut scepe solet, meliorem. Who in the said dis-
putation, behaved himselfe "SNath such humble modesty, and
with such obedience in words towards his prince protesting the
cause not to be his, but the cause of Almighty God, that neither
his enterprise was misliked of the king, and again his reasons
and allegations were so strong that well they could not be re-
futed. Wherefore the king (who ever bare speciall favour
unto him) well liking his zealous defence, only willed him to
depart out of the parliament house into the councell chamber,
for a time (for a safeguard of his conscience) till the act should
passe and be granted ; which he notwithstanding, with humble
protestation refused to doe.*
Everyone will be ready to believe that Craiimer did
not hesitate to urge every objection "whicli might occur
to him against a measure wliich interfered directly with
liis domestic comfort ; and until the political object of the
bill was explained to him, and he was assured that it
would not be carried out to its full extent for the repres-
sion of all religious opinion, it is very probable that his
opposition was eager and eloquent. We have repeated
instances of Henry's encouraging great boldness of speech
in those whose real opinions he desired to elicit ; but
wlien the king's determination was known, that the bill,
of wliich he himself produced the draft, was to pass,
we know from better authority than that of Foxe that
Cranmer gave in his adhesion. George Constantyne, re-
porting to Crumwell a conversation he had with the Dean
of Westbury, mentions the complaint made by the dean
that my Lord of Canterbury did not stick to his opposi-
tion. He adds the following remarkable sentence, which
shows how cordially the bill had been supported by
* Wordsworth, Ecc. Biog. iii. 474.
AKCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY.
49
CrumwelL* In answer to the complaint of the dean,
George Constantyne said : —
Well we know not the woike of Grod. If it be his pleasure
it ys as easy for hym to overcome with few as with many ; but
I thinke veryly that my Lorde Privey Seale persuaded my Lorde
of Cantorbury and that for other considerations than we do know;
or els I am sure avoyding the kynges indignation he wold not
haue subscribed, which in deade he shuld in conscience rather
haue aventured, if he were not in conscience therto persuaded.
I praye you what hath it avayled the Bishop of Eoch ester to
subscribe : he had as good a charter of his life as the best of
them ? As I can heare, my Lorde Privey Seale ys utterly per-
suaded as the acte ys.-f*
The truth is, that neither Crumwell nor the king had
any religious object in view, when this bill was brought
into the House of Lords ; and Cranmer was no doubt per-
suaded to withdraw his opposition by having its pohtical
object clearly set before him.
The abhorrence with which this statute has been re-
garded is to be traced, to a great extent, to the mistake
of supposing, that it -was a statute introduced through the
influence of a religious faction to enable those by whom it
was formed to persecute their opponents. That sucli a
* Arcliaeologia, xxiii. 59.
■]■ This is a proof that it was with a political, not a religions, motive
that this statute was enacted. It Avas an act obtained by the govern-
ment of which Crumwell Avas the head. If it were a religions act, and
he took part in introducing the measure antagonistic to his conscience
he Avas certainly not the saint which he is represented to be by party
Avriters. If it Avas a political measure, he could justify his conduct, and
we are the less surprised at his retaining his place at the head of the
extreme or infidel Protestants. That the King did not consider the act
as indicating any change in his religious vieAvs appears from his still
keeping up his correspondence AA'ith the Germans, and in his refusal to
Jnan-y the Duchess of Modena — a papist — and negotiating for a mar-
riage Avith a Protestant Princess.
VOL. VII. E
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
50
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranmer.
lo33-56.
measure it was not is proved by that which perplexes
those who only view the subject in its religious aspect; the
subjection of all parties, papist and protestant, to the pen-
alties of the act. The government did not care for either
party, but it was determined that those who on either side
disturbed the peace of the realm, should be punished. Tlie
question was simply, will you obey the law — the law which
requires you to admit the royal supremacy, and the law
wliich requires you not to cavil against transubstantiation.
This subject has been thoroughly sifted by Dr. Mait-
land, a writer to whose accuracy of statement Mr. Hallam
bears honourable testimony, though in his opinions on
ecclesiastical affairs he differs from him widely. Maitland
shows, that instead of there being any commission insti-
tuted in London, according to the statement of writers fol-
lowing the lead of Foxe, there was no enforcement of the
act during the first year,* — a circumstance that establishes
the fact, that it was not regarded as a party triumph ; or
rather we should say, that those who attempted to give it
that character were immediately put down by the govern-
ment. Foxe states, that those who refused to subscribe
to the articles were so numerous " that they suffered daily."
As the act was in force eight years, this implies some
thousands of martyrdoms, taking the low^est estimate of
one a day, whereas Dr. Maitland has shown tliat, during
the eight years, there were only twenty-five prosecutions
under the act ; and with respect to these t^venty-five, it is
doubtful, whether it was for a violation of tliis precise law
* In decided opposition to the statement of Foxe, followed by
Strype and others, George Constantyne, reporting to Crumwell his con-
versation with the Dean of Westbury, informs him : — " I told the Dean
I could not hear of any Conmiission that was out for this last act."
Nevertheless, he adds, with the caustic humour Avhich all along pervades
his narrative, " I will advise all my friends to keep out of danger."
This was the object of the act, not to persecute but to terrify.
AECHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 51
that they were condemned, or whether the persons said to
have been prosecuted would not have suffered for treason
or heresy even if this statute had not been called into ex-
istence. 1533-56.
I am not defending the statute, but I wish to impress
it upon the mind of any reader who desires to study the
history of this reign, that the statute was one which
political circumstances, not religious rancour, called into
existence, and that the object of the government was not
to advance any particular religious system, but simply to
prevent the peace of the country from being disturbed
by that violence, by which the controversiahsts on either
side too often disgraced their cause. It appears to me,
that Dr. Maitland is correct when he says, " I believe that
the king was roused by an idea that the church, of which
he was resolved to be the supreme head, was likely to be
overthrown by a torrent of what he considered infidelity
and blasphemy, and that he devised and insisted on, and
would have, and carried, such a measure as he thought
was suited to check the frightful evil.
" Such I beheve to have been the origin of the act.
Subsequent events convince us, that it was meant to
intimidate rather than to hurt, to pacify the people rather
than to destroy and slaughter them by wholesale. Nothing
but the spirit of party and passion, the withering blight
of all truth in history, can represent it as a statute
seriously intended to be executed according to the letter.
But it did much without proceeding to such extremities
as it threatened. It was meant to frighten the people,
and it did frighten them. By tliose means it did two
things which, whether right or wrong, good or bad, were
undoubtedly of very great importance at that time, and
in their consequences. In the first place, it caused many
of the more violent partizans of the Eeformation to quit
52 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, the country, and secondly it made those who s ayed at
--^-r-^ — ' home more quiet and peaceable." *
Cranmer. Cranmcr had sent his wife in his alarm to Germany, as
1533-56. soon as the act was passed, but from the manner in which
the king joked with him upon the subject, it is clear that
he did not intend that the penalties should be incurred
by anyone Avho did not clearly defy the law. Some
malignant persons might endeavom^ to involve an ob-
noxious neighbour in the meshes of the law ; but the
government, having secm^ed the peace of the country, was
tolerant, and, during the last years of Henry's reign, a
protestant feeling increased among the people whom the
late excesses of ultra protestantism had alarmed.
Hemy VIII. was not a blood-thirsty tyrant, and never
contemplated with delight the misery of others. That
he could dandle his baby in his ai'ms and fondle his wife,
is mentioned as something extraordinary, by those who
forget that a very tigress can purr round her young ones.
The thing really extraordinary in Henry is, that he, who
could one day demoralise his wife by making her an
idol, and could, at another time, hang about the neck of
his friend with the fondness of a school-boy, should the
next day hear of their heads rolling on a scaffold
stained by their blood, not only unmoved, not merely
with complacency, but actually with exultation. The
bell that announced to liim the death of Ann Boleyii
soinided a note of assignation to her rival. One day he
could almost hug his children until in his embrace they
were breathless, and on another day brand them with
the mark of illegitimacy. And yet of this man it is no
contradiction to say, that his cruelty was not that of
one whose hardened heart knows not what humanity is ;
it was only the cruelty in the exercise of wdiich upon
* Maitland, " Eeformation," 270.
ARCnBISHOPS OF CANTEEBURY. Oo
individuals, his \andictive rather than his malio-nant char
III
passions were indulged. And of this statute, which is - — .-^—
called his bloody act, we must judge accordingly. Cranmir.
The story of Cranmer witli reference to the passing of 1533-56.
this statute is embellished by Foxe, and it has been
repeated by others, with the object, of which they are
more or less conscious, of making the good archbishop
appear a bolder man than he really was, and with the
object also of leaving an impression upon the mind, that
being in advance of the age, he was opposed to what we
call persecution, but Avhat would appear to him as the
prosecution of persons who had violated the law. There
were, however, braver men than Cranmer who did not
hesitate to admit, that in the service of Hemy YIII. bold
men mio-ht become cowards.
One man we know was "Justus et tenax propositi," of
whom it could be said,
Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
Non vultus instantis tyranni,
Mente quatit soUda.
More defied the tyrant by a passive resistance, and
yet to Sir Thomas More, John, Duke of Xorfolk, himself
no craven, had the baseness to say, as Eoper tells the
anecdote, ""By the mass, Mr. More, it is perilous striving
with princes, for by God's body, Mr. More, indignatio
principis mors est."
No one was more thoroughly comdnced of this, than
the archbishop whom the " vultus instantis tyranni " con-
verted into the judge, and not a just one, of Sir Thomas
More himself.
As to the persecution of heretics, it is absurd to sup-
pose, that to this part of the act Cranmer had any
objection. It was only in the preceding October, that
he sat in judgment and sentenced to the stake, or rather
54 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, handed over to the cml power, four iinfortmiate ana-
> — r^ — - baptists, three men and one woman.
Cranmer. The reader will observe that a distinction is to be made
1533-56. between the Marian persecutions and those of the reign
of Henry YIII. Tlie Marian persecutions w^ere generally
the result of rehirious fanaticism : but though reliojion was
the pretext, the persecutions of Henry VIII. were those
not of the rehgionist, but of the pohtician. The elector
of Hesse, himself a Protestant, had exhorted Henry not
to tolerate the Anabaptists ; and they had certainly done
enough to alarm a pohtician anxious to restore a dis-
turbed country to peace and quiet. The Anabaptists
attributed the sacrament of baptism to the devil, an
extreme assertion, in which the most vehement opponents
of baptismal grace would scarcely in these days concur.
This and other absurd religious tenets shocked the
religious feehngs of the age, but the real charge against
them was that, to use a modern term, they were socialists.
They had in Holland been hurried on by their enthusiasm
into acts of violence, tumult and sedition. They had
even formed a plan, fortunately detected in time, to
reduce the city of Leyden to ashes. They had elected
John of Munster their king, and to him it had been
revealed, as it was said, that God had presented him
with the cities of Amsterdam, Deventer and Wesel, and
thither he despatched his emissaries to preach sedition and
carnage. The amount of disturbance which they caused,
and the support which they received, during a period of
temporary success, are sufficient to attest their influence
and power among the humbler classes of society.*
There is no doubt that the pohtical opinions, if not the
i-(4igious notions, of the Anabaptists had already spread
in England. These were the men who rushed furiously,
* Mosheim, cd. Stiibbs, iii. H2.
ARCHBISHOPS OP CAXTERBUKT. 00
when Cmmwell "let slip his dogs of war," upon the chap.
Universities ; and what was to restrain them from attack- - — ~^^—
ing the castle of the noble, or the mansion of the mer- cranmer.
cliant ? When certain Dutchmen, holding the opinions 1533-56.
of the Anabaptists, arrived in England, the government
was aware that they came with a mischievous intent, and
though they were few in number, and without influence,
yet the amount of mischief which a few fanatics might
accomplish, when religion was made the pretext for rob-
bins: men of their g;oods, was well known. As the manner
then was, it w^as determined to proceed against these
political offenders on the score of their religion. A royal
commission was issued, in October, 1538, to Cranmer and
others, for the purpose of " proceeding against them, of
restoring the penitent, of delivering the obstinate to the
secular arm, and of destroying their books." Cranmer de-
livered them over to the secular arm. The consequence
was, that three men and a woman were brought before
Paul's Cross with faggots tied to their backs. Two of the
men appear, for some reason or other, to have received a
respite, but one man and one Avoman were taken to
Smithfield, and there burnt.*
A proclamation was issued, in tlie Xovember following,
against Sacramentaries as well as Anabaptists. The latter
were required to leave the kingdom, and the Sacrament-
aries were warned to abstain from disputing about the
Eucharist, under the penalty of forfeiting their lives. This
penalty was incurred, almost immediately after the procla-
mation, by JohuxS icholson, alias Lambert, and in this perse-
cution Cranmer bore his part and must share the obloquy.
The prosecution of John Lambert may appear to con-
tradict what has been said of the political character of
the prosecutions under Hemy, but the contradiction is
* Stow's Aunal?, 52G; Jortin's Erasmus, i. 357.
5G LIVES OF THE
CHAP, rather apparent than real. Henry's position was, that
- ,J ' although the Church of England had renounced the pope,
Cranmcr. the Chiu-cli adhcrcd strictly to all Catholic doctrine. The
1533-56. Papists urged, on the contrary, that the renunciation of
the Papacy led to the renunciation of all that was Cathohc
and orthodox in the Church. They pointed especially to
the Sacramentaries, who denied that any grace was at-
tached to the Sacraments and were vehement in their
denunciation of the dogma of transubstantiation. That
no toleration of heresy was permitted in his realm, by the
king who had assumed the title of the supreme head of
the Church of England, Henry determined to proclaim
to the world, and he availed himself of the opportunity
which now occurred, to do so.
John Lambert was born in Norfolk, and going to
Cambridge, was converted from popery by Bilney. He
afterwards became a friend of Frith and of the yet more
illustrious Tj^ndale, to whom we are indebted to the
present hour, for his version of the Bible, the basis upon
wliich all subsequent translations have rested. Li the
time of the late archbishop he was brought into trouble
by expressing his opinions too freely and was in custody
at Warham's death, to be released by Cranmer when he
was appointed to the primacy. He had been for some
time at Antwerp, and, while he was abroad, he permitted
himself to be hurried into the errors of ultra-Protest-
antism, and became a Sacramentary. On his return to
England, he found few who would sympathise with him
in his extreme opinions, and when those opinions were
making some progress in the world, there were still fewer
Avho cared to assert them openly. He lived, therefore,
in retirement, and earned a scanty livelihood by keeping
a school in London. As his opinions advanced, his
« scholars declined in number, and he had now taken up
AECHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 0/
his freedom iii the Grocer's Companj^ Avitli a view of chap.
supporting himself by trade. He was attracted on one -— .-^ — ■
occasion, to St. Peter's Church, Cornhill when Dr. Tajdor, cranmer.
afterwards bishop of Lincohi, was preaching. The 1533-56.
preacher attacked the principles of Zuinghus, and Lam-
bert could not restrain himself : he waited upon Dr. Taylor
in the vestry, and, in terms of civility and respect, offered
to dispute with him on the dogma of transubstantiation.
Dr. Taylor declined, on the plea that he had not leisure
to enter into a discussion. Lambert, whose blood was
now up, committed his thoughts to paper ; and Dr.
Taylor, with no evil intention, showed the paper to
Dr. Barnes, himself a Protestant.
By a Protestant Dr. Barnes meant a Lutheran, and a
Lutheran held the doctrine of consubstantiation. He
regarded the extreme opinions of the Sacramentaries as
peculiarly dangerous, because they seemed to him to pre-
sent a serious impediment to the progress of the Eeforma-
tion. He advised Taylor to institute proceedings against
Lambert in the archbishop's court, evidently expecting
that, under a tlireat of prosecution, Lambert would modify
his statements.
We have seen in the case of former archbishops, that
they shrunk, in general, from proceeding against heretics ;
and to avoid a prosecution they first endeavoured pri-
vately to prevail upon the reputed heretic to recant.
Li the present instance, the Bishop of Worcester, Dr.
Latimer, was staying with the archbishop, and the two
prelates laboured, but in vain, to persuade Lambert
to save his life by subscribing to the dogma of tran-
substantiation. Cranmer then cited the Sacramentary to
stand upon his defence in the archbishop's comt. Lam-
bert appealed to the king. The king determined to avail
himself of the opportunity of proving to the world the
58 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Catholicism or orthodoxy of tlie supreme head of the
^-}}}l— Eaghsh Church. He sat liimself in the court of appeal,
c^-anmer. A summous was issucd to all the magnates of the realm
1533-56. to attend. In " the king's palace called the ^ATiitehall, a
throne or seat royal was erected for the king's majesty,
scaffolds for all the lords, and a stage for Nicholson or
Lambert." * The place is thus described by Hall.f On the
day appointed the king appeared seated upon tiie throne
" all in white." The king's guard was in white, and the clotli
of state was wliite. The lords spiritual sat on his right
hand, the lords temporal on Ms left. The judges were also
present and the king's counsel. There was an incredible
number of spectators. Before this remarkable assembly
Lambert was summoned. He had not anticipated that
his trial w^ould be conducted with such circumstances of
worldly pomp, and was evidently embarrassed. He was not
prepared for such an array, and though his determination
never forsook hmi, he became nervous, confused, and
abashed. His whole demeanour, nevertheless, was that of
a perfect gentleman, ready to show all courtesy to others,
but resolute to maintain his own position. But as in a man
so circumstanced we might expect, while from his conclu-
sions which he had before arrived at, he would not shrink,
the arguments which had antecedently satisfied him he
could not command. Tlie business of the day was commenced
by a speech from the Bishop of Chichester, Dr. Sampson.
He stated that the meeting had not been convened to call
in question any article of faith, for though his majesty had
* Foxe says that the king was urged to take this step by Gardyner,
for -\vhich there is not a particle of authority. Crimiwell was at this
time Henry's adviser ; but Foxe, Burnet, and other craters of that
school attribute every wrong doing in this reign to Gardyner, and most
ridiculously claim for Cranmer everything that Avas done right. This
course is pecviliarly provoking to the honest enquirer.
t Hall, 826.
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 59
emancipated liis churcli and realm from papal usurpations, chap.
he was determined to maintain the Catholic religion intact ; -^ — r-^ — -
l)ut the king, being supreme head, had determined to cranmer.
confute and condemn the heresy of the man w]io stood 1533-06.
before him. It is worth while to remark on the coarse-
ness and vulgarity of the king's conduct, because it shows
that a judge did not at that time feel it necessary to com-
port himself as a gentleman — a circumstance which ought
to be borne in mind when we shall have to record similar
unfeeling coarseness in subordinate judges hereafter. As
a counsel in these days thinks he may browbeat a ^vitness,
we find a similar system of browbeating on the bench
itself, down to the time of the Eevolution.
The king exclaimed, with his usual jocular familiarity
of manner : " Ho, ho, good fellow, and what is thy name ? "
On learning that the culprit had two names, the king in
the same tone exclaimed, that he would not trust a man
who had two names, no, not though he were his brother.
Lambert pleaded on his knees, that he was driven to the
expedient by persecution ; and began with courtesy, — for
in a man determined to maintain his own, it were unfair to
call it flatteiy, — to pay a comphment to the king both for
his learning and for his benignity iii condescending person-
ally to see justice done to his subjects, however humble.
He was proceeding in a speech evidently prepared, when
the poor man, already showing symptoms of nervousness,
was " worse confounded " by an interruption on the part of
the king : " I came not here to hear my praises pointed out
in my presence. Briefly, without further purpose, go to the
matter." Thus rebuffed — interrupted in the speech which
he had prepared, the accused stood speechless. The
king, seeing but not pitying, his perplexity, sternly cried
out, " Why standest thou still ; answer plainly. Is the
Body of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar or not .^ "
GO LIYES OF THE
CHAP. " I reply," said Lambert, " in the words of St. Austin, Our
. ^^^:l^ Lord's Body is present in tlie Eucharist after a certain
c^anmcr. manner." " Answer me not," exclaimed the royal theo-
1 J33-56. logian, " out of St. Austin or any other, but tell me plainly,
Is the Body of Christ there or not ? " Lambert saw that
he was now to pursue his own line of defence and vindi-
cation, and his spirit being roused, he raised himself and
manfully, emphatically, and as .he was required, briefly
said : " I deny the Eucharist to be the Body of Christ."
" Mark well, then," rejoined the king, " thou shalt be con-
demned by Christ's own words. Hoc est corpus meum."
This argument was supposed to be irrefragable in regard
to those who were w^illing to abide by the Bible and the
Bible only ; and here the king, as if in triumph, paused.
The controversy now devolved upon the Primate and the
other divines who had been summoned to attend. Cranmer
evidently commiserated the unfortunate man — he could
sympathise with one whose nerves were unstrung when
called upon to act so conspicuous and unexpected a part ;
and even if he could not have sympathised with him,
Cranmer must have admired the noble simphcity with
which, when Lambert was not permitted to guard his
position by certain explanations, he at once avowed his
belief. The kindness and courtesy of Cranmer's address
may be contrasted favourably with the unfeeling manner of
the king, so utterly devoid of Christian courtesy. " Brother
Lambert," said the Archbishop of Canterbury, " let this
matter be argued between us so indifferently, that if I
convince you this your argument to be false by the Scrip-
tures, you will willingly refuse the same ; but if you shall
prove it to be true by the manifest testimonies of the
Scriptures, I promise I will willingly embrace the same."*
* Burnet, for some reason or other, speaks of Cranmer as holding
DOW tlie dogma of consubstautiation. Cranmer himself, when asked
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 61
Perhaps there is nothing which redounds more to the chap.
credit of Cranmer, than the manner in which he com- • — ^—^
ported himself at this trial Of the argument with Lam- cranmer.
bert the archbishop had clearly the best. Lambert main- io33-56.
tained that oiu: Lord's body could not be in two places at
one and the same time. The archbishop referred to our
Lord's appearance to St. Paul on his way to Damascus,
to show that, as the rays of the sun may be in many
places on earth, while the sun nevertheless remains
stationary in the firmanent, so there might be a sense in
which our Lord, though at the right hand of power,
might cause his presence to be felt on earth.
Lambert could only defend his own position by lapsing
into the most fearful rationalism, and by denying the reality
of our Lord's appearance to St. Paul. Lambert's whole
argument must have damaged his cause. The Bishop of
Winchester is said to have been provoked by the arch-
bishop's calmness and kindness to the prisoner, and to
have rushed into the argument before his turn. Put,
however tliat may liave been, the discussion continued
until it was dark. The torches were already lighted in
the hall, and the wearied king thought it time to bring
the controversy to a close.
The king reverted to what had been previously said,
that the object of the meeting was not to discuss an
article of faith, which every one of his subjects was
bound to beheve because it was the law ; but that its
intent was to convince the gainsayer, if possible, and if
not, to condemn him : therefore he now adroitly asked
Lambert whether he were satisfied by what he had heard ;
whether it was his resolution, in short, to hve or die.
To have given a triumph to the royal theologian by
what doctrine he held at Lambert's trial, s<aid, " lie maintained then
the Papist's doctrine."
62 LIVES OF TUE
CHAP, appearing to have been convinced by liis argument, would
. ^^- . have gained for Lambert not hfe only, but honour. But
Thomas ^earied and worn though he was, he did not relax in
1533-56. his manner, and continued tenax propositi. He replied
that he committed his soul to God, and his body to the
clemency of the king's majesty. The king, without any
symptom of pity, exclaimed : " Then die you must ; for
a iDatron of heretics I will never be ; " and Crumwell im-
mediately rose to read the sentence of condemnation.
The sentence was carried into execution ; and the
death of Lambert was attended by circumstances of
pecuhar horror, into which it is not necessary here to
enter.
By party writers, on one side an attempt is made to
represent Cranmer as a persecutor, and on the other, to
explain away his share in the religious persecutions under
the reigns of Henry and Edward, and to make him
appear as tolerant as — so far as the rack and the stake
are concerned — men are. compelled to be in the nine-
teenth century.
As usual, the truth hes between the two extremes, and
this perhaps is the fittest place to consider the subject.
The case of Lambert has been presented to the reader,
who will see from the narrative, how easily, by the sup-
pression of some of the circumstances, Cranmer may be
painted to us as a willing, or, on the other hand, as an
unwilhna: asrent in the condemnation of that noble-minded,
althouo;h much mistaken man.
But in the other two cases it is difficult to see how
Cranmer is even indirectly implicated.
In the prosecution of ]\L*s. Kyme the archliishop clearly
was not called upon, even officially, to act. Mrs. Kyme
was the sister of a Lincolnshire knight, Sir Philip Askew.
She married Mr. Kyme ; and the husband and wife
ARCHBISHOrS OF CAXTEEBUKY. 63
differed so entirely upon the subject of religion, that they
separated, apparently by mutual consent, and not pro-
bably by any sentence of an ecclesiastical court, against
the jurisdiction of which the lady Avould have protested. 1533-06.
Although she professed to be guided by the Bible only,
she considered herself divorced, and assumed her maiden,
which has become her historical name, Ann Askew.* She
rendered herself conspicuous in violating the statute of
the six articles, and was committed to custody previous
to a trial for denying the dogma of transubstantiation.
At the same time, for the same offence, Cranmer's friend
Shaxton, who on the passing of the statute had resigned
his bishopric, was committed to prison. As had alwa^'s
been the custom, certain divines were appointed to confer
with the accused, and if possible to induce them to
renounce their reputed heresy. On this occasion, the
Bishop of London, Dr. Bonner, the Bishop of Worcester,
Dr. Heath, Dr. Eobinson, and Dr. Eedmayn visited
Bishop Shaxton and Mrs. Kyme or Ann Askew. ^Yith
Bishop Shaxton, no doubt to Cranmer's great delight,
these divines succeeded, f Bishop Shaxton became a
* Slie was probably an Anabaptist. It is stated, on the authority of
Melanchthon, tliat the Anabaptists held that the marriage between a
person holding Anabajjtism ceased to be valid if the husband or the Avife
of an Anabaptist refused to conform to his creed. The passage is quoted
in the brief history of Anabaptism in England. London, 1738, p. 48.
f Cranmer at this time held the dogma of tran substantiation, and
must have rejoiced to know that his friend had saved his life by
accepting what Cranmer believed to be the truth. Shaxton knew what
his recantation meant — it meant that he was henceforth to leave the
party to which he had been hitherto attached. Having accepted the
distingiiishing dogma of the Papists, he henceforth became more and
more devoted to that party. He is hardly dealt with by those who
treat his consistency as a crime. His conduct rather shows that he did
not merely recant to save his life, but that he was really persuaded to
return to a dcgma in the acceptance of which he had been educated.
64 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, believer in transubstantiation, and immediately en-
^ — r^ — - deavoiired to persuade Mrs. Kyme to foUoAV liis example.
Cranm'er. " He Came to mc," she said, " and counselled me to recant,
1533-56. as \q l^ad done. I said to Mm that it had been good for
him if he had never been born."
The lady persevered in repudiating the dogma, and ^Yas
handed over to the civil power, and died a martyr to
her opinions. It is a sad story, and it raises mdignant
feelings in a modern reader, but what had the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury to do with it ? She was cited before
her ordinary, who was not the archbishop, l3ut the Bishop
of London. If the Archbishop of Canterbury had presided,
in the court of his suffragan, the thing was so contrary
to all precedent that it would have been noticed, and cer-
tainly Bonner was not the man to tolerate an insult offered
to himself and his court.
The other case is perplexing to the panegyiists of
Cranmer, as it rests on the authority of one who was, in
general, accustomed so to colour his facts as to reflect
credit on the archbishop. Foxe perhaps did not think
the archbish'^'P in error in burning Joan Butcher, or
Bocher, sometimes called the maid of Kent, but he re-
peated a story without investigation which he thought
tended to elevate the character of another hero whom he
would present to us as overflowing with the milk of
human kindness, the boy-king Edward VI. His story is
repeated by Burnet and Strype, and so has passed into
our histories. It runs as follows : —
He (the king) always spared and favoured the life of man, as
in a certain dissertation of his once appeared, had with ^Master
Cheke, in favouring the life of heretics ; in so much that when
Joan Butcher should be burned, all the council could not move
him to put to his hand, but were fain to get Dr. Cranmer to
persuade witli him, and yet neither could be with much labour
1533-56.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. G5
induce the king so to do, saying, What, my Lord, will you have CHAP.
me to send her quick to the devil, in her error? so that Dr. ^^-^•_^
Cranmer himself confessed, that he had never so much to do in Thomas
all his life, as to cause the king to put to his hand, saying, that
he would lay all the charge thereof upon Cranmer before
aod.^
Now for this story Foxe does not assign any authority.
It rested on hearsay : and even the report of the supposed
transaction was not widely current, or it would have
reached Sanders, by whom not the shghtest allusion to
the story is made. Tliis is the more remarkable, since he
does refer to the taunt which Joan Bocher addressed to
her judges, when she said : —
" It is a goodly matter to consider your ignorance. It was not
long ago since you burned Anne Askew for a piece of bread,
and yet ye came yourselves soon after to believe and profess the
same doctrine for which you burned her. And now, forsooth,
you will needs burn me for a piece of flesh, and in the end \'ou
will come to believe this also, when you have read the Scriptures
and understand them." f
On reference to the Privy Council Book we find, that Joan
Butcher or Bocher was executed under a writ de hceretico
co?nburendo, addressed to the Sheriff of London, and issued
out of the Court of Chancery, upon the authority of a war-
rant not signed by the king, but by the council. The young
king was not accustomed to attend the council, neither
was he considted, except on special occasions when his
attendance was required by a committee. At this meeting
of council, moreover, Cranmer was not present. The per-
sons present on the day referred to were — the Lord Chan-
cellor, the Lord High Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, the
Lord High Chamberlain, the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord
Paget, the Bishop of Ely, Mr. Treasurer, Mr. Comptroller,
* Soamos, Hist. Ref. iii. 544. f Soaines, Hist. Eef. iii. 546.
VOL. VII. P
66 LIVES OF THE
Master of the Horse, Mr. Yice-chamberlain, Sir Ealf Sadler,
and Sir Edmund Xorth, Tlie council were the de facto
Cranmer. rulcrs of the kingdom, and on the 27th of April 1550, the
1533-56. following is the entry on their journal : — "A warrant to
the Lord Chancellor to make out a writ to the Slieriff of
London for the execution of Joan of Kent, condemned to
be burnt for certain detestable opinions of heresy." In
short, Edward did not sign the document. Cranmer felt
certainly no eager desire to enforce a punishment which
he knew woidd be inflicted as a matter of course, or he
would have attended the council ; and all the tears of the
young king, and the difficulty of Cranmer to persuade
him to put his hand to the warrant, is an affecting inci-
dent, wliich, repeated by all writers of this period of
history, has no foundation in fact.* That young Edward
was not a youth easily moved to compassion we may
judge from his heartless conduct towards his uncle ; and
his entry with respect to the execution of Joan Bocher is
so cold, as in itself to give the he to the charge brought
against Cranmer of being " importunate for blood": —
May 2. Joan Bocher, otherwise called the Maid of Kent, was
burnt for holding that Christ was not incarnate of the Virgin
Mar}', being condemned the year before but kept in hope of
conversion. And on the 30th of April the Bishop of London
and the Bishop of Ely were to persuade her ; but she withstood
them and reviled the preacher at her death.f
We have already seen that Cranmer was by nature a
mild, indulgent, kind-hearted man. He Avas not a man
likely to take pleasure in human suffering, and if a heretic
could be induced to recant, no one assuredly would have
* Mr. Coxe, in his preface to Craumer's works, has gone through
this case concisely and with much ability.
f Edward's Journal, in Burnet.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURT. 6T
rejoiced more than he. It is not probable, that he should chap.
have been sent to persuade a headstrong boy ; for he was . — ,.: — .
much more likely to have shed the tears of pity than the cranmer.
fanatical youth, who not long after proved that, of the two, io33-56.
his will was the stronger, since he persuaded Cranmer to
commit an offence for which the Primate afterwards re-
pented, and perhaps lost his life. At the same time, it
were absurd to suppose, that Cranmer would not have
signed the warrant, if he had been present at the trial.
He miglit have pitied the culprit, even as George III. may
have pitied Dr. Dodd while signing his death-warrant ; or
as a magistrate, at a later period, might have commiserated
the criminal who had stolen a sheep to save his family
from starvation. That the sensibilities of a generous na-
ture would have been moved had Cranmer witnessed the
sufferings of a fellow-creature, is perfectly compatible with
his deciding, when the question was considered in the
abstract, that a heretic ought to die. In the very first
year of his primacy, one of the most learned and amiable
of the Reformers, John Fryth, died for denying the dogma
of transubstantiation, and of his case Cranmer could write
carelessly to his friend Hawkins : —
" Other news have we none notable, but that one Fryth which
was in the Tower in prison, was appointed by the King's grace
to be examined before me, my Lord of London, my Lord of
Wynchestre, my Lord of Suffolke, my Lord Chancellor, and my
Lord of Wylteshere, whose opinion was so notably erroneous,
that we could not dispatch him, but was fain to leave him to
the determination of his ordinary, which is the Bishop of London.
His said opinion is of such nature that he thought it not neces-
sary to be believed as an article of our faith, that there is the
very corporeal presence of Christ, within the host and sacrament
of the altar, and holdeth of this point most after the opinion of
<Fcolampadiu5, and surely I myself sent for him three or four
times to persuade him to leave that his imagination, but for all
f2
1533-56,
68 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, that we could do therein, he would not apply to any counsel :
^^^- notwithstanding now he is at a final end, with all examinations,
Thomas for my Lord of London hath given sentence and delivered him
to the secular power, where he looketh every day to go unto the
fire. And there is also condemned with him one Andrew, a
tailor of London, for the selfsame opinion." *
lu the case of Joan Bocher, the archbishop was the
judge who sentenced her to death, and so far from being
asliamed of it, the wliole process, together with others of
the same kind, ranging over four years, from 1548 to
1551, is carefully narrated in Cranmer's register. In tlie
Commission for the trial of Joan Bocher, we find the name
of Hugh Latimer, as well as tliat of Thomas, by Divine
permission, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all Eng-
land and Metropolitan. They found her guilty of assert -
ino; " the accursed and intolerable error, the damnable and
scandalous opinion, opposed, contradictory, and repugnant
to the Catholic faith, that although she beheved that the
Word was made flesh in the Yhgin's womb, yet she did
not beheve that Clmst took flesh of the Virgin ; because
the flesh of the Virgin being the outward man, was sin-
fully gotten and born in sin, but the Word, by the consent
of the inward man, of the Virgin was made flesh. To this
damnable error, directly contrary to the Cathohc faith,
she with malicious pertinacity obstinately adhered ; and
therefore the aforesaid Thomas, Archbishop of Canter-
biu-y. Primate of all England and Metropohtan, with his
assessors, acting under the advice of certain persons
learned in the law, and certain professors of theology,
having first excommunicated her, delivered her up to the
secular power." The sentence was proclaimed on the
ast day of April, in the year 1549, in St. Mary's
Chapel, in the Cathedral of St. Paid, in the presence of
* Letter xiv. Harl. MSS. G148, fol. 23.
I
^KCHEISnOPS OF CANTERBUEt. 69
the assessors of the archbishop, among whom sat Hugh
Lathner.*
Thomas
Dming the year which elapsed between the sentence Cranmer.
and its being carried into execution, the unfortunate i^33-o6.
woman was lodged first at the house in Smithfield, usually
occupied by Lord Eich, the chancellor ; and she was after-
wards removed to the priory of St. Bartholomew. She
was not, therefore, treated with undue severity, and every
attempt was made to induce her to recant. She had long
been a notorious or celebrated character, and from time
to time, had caused some trouble to the government.
Before the free circulation of the Bible was allowed, she
was a vendor of T}mdairs Testaments, and clandestinely
disposed of them among the ladies of the comt. She
had also been the friend of 'Mis. Kyme.
We have thus the history of Cranmer 's mind as regards
those prosecutions, which we have happily learned to re-
gard as persecutions. He may have been as tender-hearted
as many a modern judge, whom we have seen weeping on
the bench ; but the feelings of the man were not to inter-
fere with the duties of the magistrate. Perhaps, too, with
all her heroism, Joan's conduct may not have been such
as to conciliate her judges. When, on the 2nd of May
1550, she was burnt at Smithfield, and a sermon, as usual,
was preached to improve the occasion, her last dpng
speech and confession was, " You lie like a rogue ; go
read the Scriptm-es."
Upon another occasion we find Cranmer inflicting, with-
out compunction, a barbarous punishment upon a poor man
of whom the archbishop complained to the Privy Council
that he had forged a grant to himself of the office of beads-
man in the city of Canterbury. The council ordered the
* Reg. Cranmer, fol. 74, b. The processes are printed from the
Ilegister in Wilkins, iv, 39, 45 ; and in Buruet, v. 246, ed. Pocock.
70 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, arclibisliop to cause one of the criminal's ears to be nailed
III .
V- — r^ — - to the pillory on the next market-day, to remain in that
Cranmer. sitiuition diuing the market, with a paper declaring his
1533-56. offence in large letters. The archbishop obeyed.*
These are horrible things to record, and the sentence
passed upon a heretic is narrated with the more disgust
from the terrible uatm^e of the punishment. But there is
no reason why we should expect Cranmer to be in ad-
vance of his age ; nor can he be charged with inconsistency
wdien, as a judge, he punished the culprit, whom as a
man he pitied.
I have wished to bring this whole subject under one
point of view without attending to the sequence of events.
We must now return to the historical position from whicli
we have digressed, and we find Cranmer implicated in the
miserable case of the Lady Ann of Cleves.
The only event of interest in the history of Queen Jane,
the successor of Ann Boleyn, in which Cranmer was per-
sonall}^ concerned, is that which relates to the baptism of
her child, to whom the king, with hearty English feeling,
gave the popular name of Edward. The archbishop was
associated as sponsor with the Lady Mary, afterwards
Queen of England, and the Duke of Norfolk. No theo-
logical differences of opinion, at that time, kept religious
parties separate. The coml was divided in its sympathies
between joy for the birth of the prince and grief for the
death of the queen his mother ; who, if we set aside her
heartless conduct towards the late Queen Ann, had con-
ducted herself, as Lord Herbert says, \A\h discretion, and
had borne her faculties meekly. Twelve hundred masses
were said for the repose of her soul, and a solemn dirge
at St. Paul's. If there was a tendency to Protestantism
on the part of the king and of Cranmer — the king wdio
* Proceedings of Privy Council, 117, 118.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 71
ordered these masses and the archbisliop who oiBciated at ch.\p.
III.
them — it was not at this time much developed. — , — ■
Great as was the king's grief, yet for the sake of his cranmer.
country he overcame it. His mind reverted to the pohcy 1533-56.
of his great minister Wolsey, and with a \dew of strength-
ening his aUiauces abroad, he determined to select a foreign
princess for his wife.* The Duchess Dowager of Milan and
Mary of Guise refused liim — the last-named lady because
she was betrothed to the King of Scots ; the former, indi-
cating the estimation of Hemy's character abroad, because
she had only one head. If she had possessed two heads,
she would gladly have placed one of them at the disposal
of his majesty. He also thought of one of the two sisters
of IMary of Guise, but insisted that they shoidd be first
brought for inspection to Calais — a proposal rejected by
the gallantry of Francis I.
Henry had also been an admirer of Madame de Mon-
treuil.f But there would probably have been an insiu:-
mountable obstacle to any one of these marriages, in that
they would have requh-ed a dispensation from the pope.
Wlien the emperor heard, that the king was projecting a
matrimonial alliance with one of the German princesses,
he offered his services to prevail upon the Duchess of JMilan
to give him her hand. When, however, the subject came
seriously under consideration, the king declined to stultify
himself and to retrace his steps by receiving a dispensation
from the pope, whose authority lie had rejected ; and at
last, he made up his mind to wed the Lady Ann, a sister
of the reigning Duke of Cleves. Aware of the ridicide to
which he had exposed himself in requiring the King of
* State Papers, i. 574.
t Among the State Papers, i. 583, in a letter from Penison to
Crumwell, there is a curious account of the presents made to this lady
on her journey through England.
72 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. France to produce the ladies of his coiu't for inspection,
III
v_-,J — ' as a horse-dealer would trot out his horses at a fair ;
Cranmer. hc was couteuted with demanding that lady's portrait —
1533-56. a circumstance which led to much inconvenience, and
eventually into a violation of the moral law, in which
Cranmer was involved.
I have entered, at some length,.into the history of these
royal flirtations, or rather matrimonial speculations, because
they tend to refute the notion that the marriage witli Ann
of Cleves was the result of a grand mancEu\Te, on the part
of Cnimwell and the Protestants, to force the kins; into a
Protestant alhance. The notion, that the Protestants and
Papists formed at this time, two clearly defined parties
in the state, each contending for the formation of a
ministry, Gardyner at the head of one and Cranmer at
the head of the other, is certainly not borne out
by historical evidence. All the country was agreed on
one point, namely, the rejection of the papal and the
assertion of the royal supremacy. The men of the new
learning would push the reforms consequent upon this
fact to an extreme ; the men of the old learning were
conservatives, and would advance no further. And what
w^as the Protestantism of Henry and Cranmer ? Henry
had defined his position with firmness — a rejection of the
pope but a maintenance of old Cathohc or orthodox
tiTith. The only difference between him and Cranmer
was, that Cranmer had discovered, that some portion of
what was now assumed to be Cathohc truth, held " from
the beginning everywhere and by all," was not really
such ; and Henry was not unwilling, when Cranmer could
prove his assertions, to accept and enforce them ; but as
for Protestantism, as the word was then understood, the
only point on which the Church of England accorded with
the foreign Protestants was that both rejected the pope.
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 73
As regards Cnmiwell, his religion was purely political : char
when he desired to rouse the people against the monks, - — r— -
he patronised the most violent preachers of the Protestant cranmer.
faction ; when that was accomplished, he was prepared, io3S-56.
in order to preserve the peace of the country, to support
the statute of the six articles.
That Henry was influenced by Crumwell to select the
Lady Ann, and that the latter in consequence fell under
the royal displeasure, when the king repudiated his
marriage with that princess, is a purely gratuitous
assertion, contradicted by facts. For it is certain, that
after the marriage Crumwell not only continued but
increased in favour, and was advanced to the Earldom of
Essex,
But, be this as it may, a treaty of marriage was entered
into with the httle court of Cleves ; and the sister of the
Duke was selected to become the Queen Consort of Eng-
land. Courtiers and painters thought fit to pay their
homage to the rising sun ; and the lady, though marked
with the small-pox,* was, from the omission of any
allusion to that defect, painted as a beauty and described
as perfection. f Although at this period. Protestantism
was unpopular in England, yet the people, from pohtical
* Even after lier arrival in England, to those who only saw her at a
distance she appeared, in the words of Hall, as " a brave lady," and her
" good visage " is mentioned. We may presume, therefore, that the
personal disgust which Henry felt was from her disfigurement, not seen
at a distance, by the small-pox.
I Thus was she represented to Henry, when he had determined upon
the marriage, but I find among the State Papers a letter which shows
that Crumwell had been otherwise informed. Hutton, writing to
Crumwell in December, 1537, says: — " The Dewke of Clevis hathe a
daughter, but I here no great preas neyther of hir personage nor
beawtie." (State Papers, viii. 5.) After this Crumwell would hardly
have taken an active part in promoting the match if he had not seen
tliat his royal master was deteimined upon it.
74 LIVES OF THE
CHAP . considerations or prejudices, were decidedly in favoin' of
. — ^ — - the marriage with the Lady Ann.
Craumer. When all the preliminaries were arranged, preparations
1533-56. were made for her reception in England on a scale of
magnificence never surpassed. A full description of it
may be found in the Chronicle of Hall.
The archbishop repaired to Canterbury, where the
representatives of all parties in the state were assembled.
The Duke of Norfolk, Lord Dacre, Lord Montjoye, and a
large company of knights and esquires, with the lords of
the exchequer, all in the richest uniforms, were com-
missioned to welcome her to England. The primate was
attended by the Bishops of Ely, St. Asaph, and St. Davids,
together with the suffragan of Dover. The queen elect
had landed at Deal on St. John's day, the 27th of De-
cember. Here the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, and the
Bishop of Chichester, Dr. Sampson, received her, and she
was conducted by them to Dover Castle ; she rested till
the following Monday, when she commenced her progress
to London. The primate and tlie other magnates of the
land who had assembled at Canterbury, met her on
Barham Downs, and escorted her into the city. She was
not entertained by the primate ; but was lodged at St.
Augustine's, which had now lapsed to the Crown, and
here she was entertained at the king's expense. The
archbishop seems to have preceded her to London, or
rather to Greenwich, there to make ready for the
marriage.
Hall is again grandiloquent in describing the meeting
of Henry and the Lady Ann, at Greenwich. Here, in the
king's procession, which must have been a magnificent
display, the primate rode, attended by his suffragans,
" apparelled," as the chronicler informs us, " in black
satin."
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. iO
On the feast of the Epiphany, 1540, under circum- char
stances of unusual splendour, Archbishop Cranmer per- -...^ , " ^'
formed the marriage ceremony, and afterwards celebrated cranmer.
mass in the king's closet. After mass, he partook of wine io33-56.
and spices. It does not appear, that Cranmer was ad-
mitted into the secrets of the king, or that he was, at this
time, aware of the antipathy which Henry felt against the
unfortunate lady, whom he had selected for his wife. But
this subject soon came officially before the archbishop.
Into the offensive and disgusting details of the divorce
case I am not about to enter. What must be said may
be stated briefly. The king determined to put away his
wife ; and Archbishop Cranmer was required to conduct
the repudiation of that injured and insulted lady,* accord-
ing to those forms of law which the king loved to observe,
whenever they coidd be rendered subservient to his will.
The case was regularly submitted to convocation; and
when the judgment of convocation had been given, an act
of parliament, based upon that judgment, was obtained.
It is to be remarked how all parties sought to divide the
blame. The archbishop, instead of deciding the case in
his own court, first took the precaution of consulting the
convocation ; as to the members of convocation, they
were so fearfid of being personally responsible, that they,
to the number of two hundred, gave their assent to the
divorce.f In the act of parliament it is said, that the
* If anyone were in duty bound to expose the character of Henry
VIII., an investigation of this case would prove him to be void of the
common feelings of a gentleman, a Chriptian, a man. Perhaps there
is not in historical literature a viler document than that in which he
assigned his reasons for seeking a divorce. He cared not what he did
or said, if only he could carry his object.
I I give the numbers as I find them ; but there must be some
mistake. There are not two hundred members of the Convocation of
Canterbury.
76 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, marriage, as solemnised by the king and the Lady Ann of
> — ,^ — ' Cleves, is by the iudfiment of the cleruv of tlie Church of
Cranmer. England in their convocation adjudged and pronounced
1533-56. to be void. To this sentence the Lady Ann had given
her consent, and therefore it was enacted that the king
" shall be at liberty to marry any other woman, and she
any other man." Li what follows we have another, out of
the many instances that might be adduced, of the httle
account, at this time taken of human life, for it is enacted,
that " it shall be high treason by word and deed to ac-
count, take, judge or believe the said marriage to be good,
or to do or procure anything to the repeal of this act."
I have already had occasion to remark, that while all
reference to the proceedings against Ann Bolejm has been
erased from the register at Lambeth, the divorce case of
Ann of Cleves is given in full. And hence we infer, that
the two cases were regarded by the archbishop with very
different feelings ; and indeed the delight of the Lady Ann
of Cleves in escaping, with her life, from the embraces of
her husband, was so evident as, in her instance, to render
the divorce, if an act of injustice, still an act of mercy.
It was well, indeed, for the country that the Lady Ann
of Cleves was a woman of no strong passions.* She
preferred the enjoyment of a splendid establishment in
England, which was afforded her, to the precarious sup-
port she was offered in a petty continental court. After
the first great wrong to which she submitted, without
remonstrance, she had no cause for complaint. To all who
did not oppose his will, or involve him in trouble, Henry
was one of the kindest and best humoured of men. Wlien
* From the conversations reported to liave taken place between her
and her ladies, we are to infer, after making due allowance for the
manners of the age, that she was a coarse-minded woman, who took a
utilitarian view of all things brought imder her notice.
ARCHBISHOPS OF C.\XTERBUKY. 77
Ann of Cleves retired from his bed, he was at all times
careftd, that every mark of attention and even of kind-
ness should be manifested towards her ; and the people, cranmer.
commiserating the fate of a lady who had been so grossly io33-56.
insulted by ihe king, regarded her with feelings of re-
spect and pity.
The absurdity of supposing the king to be sincere in
the alarm which he professed to feel, and which he
required his courtiers to express, lest at his death there
should be a disputed succession to the throne, is glaringly
apparent on this occasion. He had done all he could to
vitiate the claim to be made upon the throne by his
daughters ; his son was a child, not in vigorous health,
and if Henry were to have issue by another marriage, a
pretender to the throne might have easily disputed the
legitimacy of the divorce from Ann of Cleves, obtained
under circumstances so unparalleled and unprecedented.
But Henry cared not for his theories when his passions
were roused ; and he caused the proceedings against his
insulted wife to be conducted with the greater expedition,
as he had fallen in love — I again use the word love, in
his instance, under a protest — with Catherine Howard.
In this case also Cranmer was concerned, and acted
with discretion and kindness so far as circumstances
would allow. Catherine beinoj the dauQ-hter of Lord
Edmund Howard, was a niece of the Duke of Norfolk
and a cousin-german of Ann Boleyn. It was as suitable
a match as that which had been just dissolved ; for an
English duke is more than the equal of a German prince,
and royal blood flowed in the veins of the Howards. She
had been appointed maid of honom* to the Lady Ann of
Cleves, the late queen ; but it is supposed that she was
unnoticed by Henry until she excited his admiration at a
dinner given by the Bishop of Wmchester; when the
iS LIVES OF THE
CHAP, mighty monarch professed himself her slave. In regard
» — r^ — ' to the time when the marriage between the king and
Cranmer. Catlicrinc took place, there is as much mystery as there
1533-56. was about tlie marriage of Ann Boleyn ; and gossip among
the courtiers insinuated that the marriage was consum-
mated before it was solemnised.*
All that is known is, that on the 8th of August 1540,
the Lady Catherine was introduced by Hemy at Hampton
Court as his queen. The amorosity publicly evinced by a
bridegroom, not young but " burly and big," towards a
blooming, bright-eyed girl still in her teens, and remark-
able for being in stature small and slender, provoked a
smile in the English court, and was mentioned, for the
amusement of his royal master, by the Ambassador of
France. From tliis happy dream Cranmer was to awaken
his royal friend. While the young queen was sharing
with her devoted husband the splendid hospitalities, by
wdiich the aristocracy of the North endeavoured to win
back the royal favour, and to prove, that it was not
against the king, but against his ministers, that rebellious
thoughts were lately entertained ; -wdiile Catherine by her
inimitable grace was winning all hearts ; a man named
Lossells, or Lascelles, came to Cranmer and informed him,
on the authority of his sister, who had been servant to the
Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, tliat the queen had before
her marriage been seduced by one Francis Derham, and
had been guilty of gross acts of immorality. To the
Lord Chancellor and the Earl of Hertford, who were the
ministers left in charge of the government, the archbishop
communicated the disclosure. It was agreed between
them, that tlie fact ought not to be concealed from the
king. The archbishop " could not find it in his heart "
to make the statement verbally, and he determined to
* Depeches de Merillac.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 79
communicate it to liis majesty in writing. Cranmer acted chap.
with delicacy and caution. He waited till the royal -^ — ,^ —
family returned to Hampton Court, desirous, probably, of cranmer.
being at hand to assist in consohng the king, whose 1533-56.
affliction he knew would be as passionate as his anger.
He went with the council to Hampton Court, and there
he was told, that, on the festival of All Saints, the king
had determined to receive the Holy Communion with his
queen, and that he had directed his confessor, the Bishop
of Lincoln, Dr. Holbeach, to draw up a form of tlianks-
giving, that he might express his gratitude to Almighty
God for the blessing he now enjoyed in an amiable and
loving wife. It would seem that Cranmer had not the
heart to interfere with the enjoyments of that day. It
must be borne in mind that he had not come to accuse
the queen of adultery, but merely to disclose certain dis-
reputable actions in her unmarried hfe. He possibly
thought, as we gather from his conduct afterwards, that
the amorous monarch might overlook the past, if he
could obtain a proof of his wife's fidelity to her mar-
riage vow, and a pledge of that fidehty for the time to
come. The archbishop permitted that day to pass.* On
the morrow, being the feast of AU Souls, the king, the
queen, and Cranmer all assisted at mass ; and as they
were returning from mass, Cranmer placed in the king's
hands a paper which he requested the king to read in
private.
Hemy would not, at first, believe what he read. For
reasons already mentioned more than once, and from the
* This is tlie order of events as I gather it from the letter of the
Privy Council to Paget. The statement is confused. The 1st of
November was and is All Saints' day, the 2nd all Souls' day. All-
hallow's day was a synonym of All Saints' day ; but, by an oversight,
the title of AllhaUows is applied by the Council to All Souls' day.
80 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, destruction of the official documents, it is impossible to
-- — ,J — - retiu-n a verdict either of guilty or of not guilty, in this or
Cranmer. ii^ ^^7 pnblic trials of this reign. We may say, that from
1533-56. tlie evidence we possess, the case is not proved against the
queen ; and we may, with this proviso, venture upon an
opinion. I have no occasion to enter further into the
subject ; but having read the proceedings of the Privy
Council and the various State papers, I may be permitted
to say, that while no one doubts the truth of the charges
brought against the poor girl before the time of her mar-
riage, I think that everything tends to show, that she was
not guilty of adultery ; but that after she had become the
king's wife, she conducted herself with great j^ropriety.
I suspect that, though she was only nineteen, and he old
enough to be her father, she was truly attached to the
king, and that it was by the real affection evinced by her,
that the king was fascinated. But her story is one of the
saddest of the many sad stories which history has to tell.
She had lost her mother in early life, and she never had
a maternal friend. She lived in the house of her grand-
mother ; but that grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of
Norfolk, not only did not rule her family well, but, being
an unprincipled woman, of a violent temper, sometimes
applied her fists to the correction of the men as well as
tlie women of her household, and at other times treated
as a joke what, in any but a disorderly house, would be
regarded as a grave offence. Francis Derham, a bold man,
occupied an inferior position in her family, though dis-
tontly related to the Howards. He availed himself of his
opportunities to seduce Catherine while she was yet little
more than a precocious child. She was, though frivolous,
quick and clever, not absolutely beautiful, but of such
superlative grace as to be more admired than persons
whom an artist would have rej^arded as handsomer. She
AKCHBISHOFS OF CA^'TERBURY. 81
was short of money, and was not able, except tliroii(?h chap.
" . . Ill
Derham's assistance, to procm^e the httle elegancies per- -- — r^ — •
taining to her station. While flattered by liis admiration cranmer.
of her, before she had attracted the notice of others, she 1533-56.
placed herself under obhgations to him, until at last she
could deny him nothing. Wlien people remarked, that
he took hberties with her which, as she was approaching
womanhood, ought not to be permitted, he called her his
little wife, and she did not repudiate the title. The old
duchess, who appears to have been folly itself, looked
upon this as a flirtation carried rather too far ; but talked
loosely on the subject.
At length- they parted. Xo one knew what became of
Derham, but he was supposed to be engaged in acts of
piracy ; for in that age, persons caUing themselves gen-
tlemen did not lose their gentility by being suspected of
robbery by sea or by land ; it was in detection that,
witli the penalty, came the disgrace. Those persons, how-
ever, of the duchess's household who knew or suspected
what had occmTcd, were more in number than could have
been the case if it had not been part of Derham's pohcy,
to make it appear that he was merely romping with a
child ; but they too had been dispersed. The woman
who knew most of these miserable circumstances, who
had been most in the confidence of Catherine, who had
acted as her secretary, and communicated with her para-
mour until all communication with him had ceased — Joan
Bidmer — was settled at York. To say that a person had
migi'ated from the South of England to York amounted
almost to what would be meant in these days if we were
to say of a man that he has gone to the colonies.
All seemed to have been forgotten ; and Catherine,
taught by past experience, the experience of a poor girl
without a female friend to advise her, became the model
VOL. VII. G
82 LIVES OF THE
CH.\p. of propriety. By nothing about her was the king, accord-
>- — ^ — ' ing to his own statement, more enamoured, than by her
Cranmer. " uotable appearance of honor, cleanness, and maidenly
1533-56. behaviour." *
As soon as Catherine became Queen Consort of Eng-
land, they who had been the witnesses or abettors of the
sins, we might almost say of her childhood, came out of
their secret hichng-places, or from the retirements of
private life, and Avere seen at court. By their very
appearance, they were demanding an amount of hush
money, or an equivalent in high appointments, which the
poor young queen could not supply or procure. A terrible
letter came from York, from the wickedest of the de-
stroyers of the queen, which must have made lier very sick
at heart. She strufif^led to free herself, but what coidd
she do ? This question is easily answered by those wlio
can view this subject dispassionately from a distance. We
can say, that she ouglit not to liave done the things which
she did. She committed indiscretions ; how were they to
be avoided ? Here was the terrible Francis Derham, a
man imbruted in selfishness and without a single feelincr of
a gentleman. He, to the last, confirmed the assertion of the
queen ; they both admitted that they had, at one time, Hved
together as man and wife, but both denied that there had
been the slightest familiarity between them after Catherine's
marriage with the king. But there was the fact, that she
could not refuse him, when he demanded, a place in her
royal household. All who knew anything of her past
misconduct were ever in her presence, their very looks
brinfrino; daffojers to her soul. Any one of them misfht utter
a word whicli would be her doom. We are not surprised
to read of secret messages, and various communications
made through Lady Eochford, the piu-port of which is not
* See letter from Crunnvell to Paget, 352.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 83
known, tliougli we feel sure, that tliey related to the one ce.\p.
subject. ■ .-^— ■
There was a near relation of the queen, named Cul- cranmer.
pepper, whom she made her confidant ; and with whom, 1533-06.
tlirough Lady Eochford, she had frequent communications
by letter. When the Court was at Pontefi'act, the queen
had an interview with her kinsman Culpepper in the night,
in the presence of Lady Eochford ; he declared to the
latest hour of life, defying the rack as well as the axe, that
there never was anything approaching to criminality in
this or any other interview with the queen ; and where
there were such obvious reasons why there should be such
interviews, and why they should be clandestine, we may
believe him, if we are charitably disposed ; and the side
of charity is generally the side of justice. But that inter-
view cost Culpepper his life.
This is the story, as far as we can gather it from exist-
ing materials. There was the original offence — this is
admitted, but it is not proved ; perhaps we shall some of
us think the opposite position fully established — that
Catherine was not guilty' of that adultery which was laid
to her charge, and for which she died.
The king at first hoped, that the accusation brought
against his wife for immorality before her marriage would
prove to be unfounded. So convinced was he of her
innocence, that he caused her at first to be treated with
great consideration, and was careful to prevent any scandal
injurious to her reputation that might arise from the
secret investigation into her conduct wdiich he appointed.
When it was admitted by the queen herself, that she had
kept this secret from him, his vindictive passions were
roused, and could only be satiated by her blood.
Cranmer, who was peculiarly free from vindictive
feelings, and who easily forgave, did not understand his
G 2
84 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, royal master. He supposed, that all tlie king required
. — ^ — . was a divorce ; and the archbishop therefore urged the
Cranmer. quecii to admit the existence of a precontract between
1533-56. herself and Derham. This slie pertinaciously refused to
do. If she would admit the precontract, then the arch-
bishop could pronounce sentence of divorce, and the
poor young woman would be dismissed with a tarnished
reputation, but with her life. She still refused. It is
difficult to understand why, unless it was from sucli
hatred of Derham, that she revolted from what would
have bound her to him for hfe, if the lives of both were
spared.
The archbishop was commissioned to have an interview
with her, and to obtain a confession of her guilt. There
still exists a letter from the archbishop to the king, very
touching ; the poor girl being terrified almost to deatli ;
and evidently feeling affection for the king, whose love,
on the contrary, had turned into hatred.
Cranmer laboured earnestly in lier cause ; but in vain.
A bill of attainder passed through parliament, and on
the loth of February 1542, England was degraded by
another legal murder. One is filled with horror at the
nature of the man, who could give orders that the head
should roll on the scaffold which a few weeks before had
rechned on his breast — the head of one who, with all her
faults, was as an angel of light compared to the wretched
being who pronounced on her the sentence of death, and
then revelled on his blood-stained throne. The confessions
in this reign made on the scaffold were either previously
composed by the government ; or, if other words were
uttered, the reporter shaped them according to the will
of him whose will it was death to gainsay. Catherine
was attended to the scaffold by her confessor, the Bishop
of Lincoln ; and afterwards, when Hemy too had gone
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 85
to his account, he recorded the last words of Catherine
Howard to have been —
As to the act, my reverend Lord, for which I stand con-
demned, God and his holy angels I take to witness, on my soul's 1533-56.
salvation, that I die guiltless, never having so abused my sove-
reign's bed. What other sins and follies of youth I have
committed I will not excuse ; but am assured that for them God
hath brought this punishment upon me, and will in his mercy
remit them, for which I pray you, pray with me unto his Son
and my Saviour Jesus Christ.*
By those who determine to find a religious motive for
all the actions of this reign, as they attribute the death
of Ann Boleyn to a conspiracy on the part of the Papists,
so they opine that a Protestant conspiracy led to the death
of Catherine Howard. The facts of history do not bear
out either suspicion. Tliat there was a conspiracy against
Ann Boleyn we must admit, but the leading spirit in that
conspiracy was, we can little doubt, Thomas Crumwell,
who is regarded as the head of the Protestant party ; it
remains to be proved whether there were any conspiracy
at all against Catherine Howard. The most bitter of her
enemies were men of the old learning ; and so far from her
having been under the influence of Norfolk or Gardyner,
we hear not the name of the latter after the dinner-party
at Avhich the king fell in love with her ; while in a family
feud Catherine took part against her uncle the duke, who
became her enemy. It is ridiculous to suppose, that the
counsellors of such a king as Henry could have imagined
that he would have tolerated the interference in pohtical
affairs of a girl of nineteen, or that such a girl as Catherine
would do anything but defer to the judgment, opinion,
and will of such a husband as Heniy.
I have entered more fully into this subject, because it
* Speed, 1030.
86 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, has been insinuated, tliat Cranmer, afraid of sliarino; the
III . .
^- — ^ — ' fate of Crumwell, was at the head of this conspiracy ; that
Cranmer. he conspircd with Norfolk and Gardyner to ruin the un-
1533-56. fortunate queen. Not only is this disproved, but the very
assertion is directly opposed to the whole cliaracter of
Cranmer. If we are told, that through fear, moral more
than physical, he was at any time induced to belie his
principles, we might give credit to the assertions of tlie
accuser ; but Cranmer's was a character simple and un-
suspecting even to weakness ; his whole nature would
have revolted from anything so degrading as a conspi-
racy merely to sustain tliat political power which, in point
of fact, he neither possessed nor desired to possess. Both
these points are established by what little remains to be
told of Cranmer's history during the reign of Henry YIII.
It seems as if Henry delighted to raise his favourites to
a giddy pinnacle of greatness, that their fall might be the
heavier when, in his caprice or his vengeance, lie thought
fit to hurl them to the bottom of the pit. Not long before
the execution of the fifth queen of Henry VIII., Thomas
Crumwell, Earl of Essex, had to plead in vain for his life,
in terms tiie more offensively abject when contrasted with
his previous haughtiness of demeanour. His letter to the
king concluded in the following terms : " Written at the
Tower with the heavy heart and trembling hand of your
Highness most miserable prisoner and poor slave. I cry
for mercy, mercy — mercy ! "
Let the reader compare the abject cowardice of
Crumwell with the Christian courage exhibited by Sir
Thomas More.
Self-confident, self-reliant, returning frown for frown
with the proud peers, who ill brooked to see the plebeian
upstart take precedence of all but royalty in the land, the
Earl of Essex appeared in his place in the House of Lords
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 87
on the morning of the 10th of June, 1540. Before
evening he was a prisoner in the Tower. He was
arrested at the council board under a charge of high
treason, by the Duke of Norfolk. 1533-56.
It is impossible to discover the real grounds of his
appreliension, unless light shall be hereafter thrown upon
the subject by communications made to foreign courts.
The principal evidence against him has been suppressed,
because probably it would have implicated the king,
whose " slave " he had been. He was condemned under
the iniquitous statute, which admitted of attainder without
trial. It is incorrect to state, as is sometimes done, that he
was the author of that statute ; he was rather the reviver of
it. The preamble tells us nothing except the fact, which is
patent, that he took bribes to hold people harmless who
had violated the law. The enormous wealth which he had
accumulated within a very few years, is sufficient to show
how unscrupulous he must have been as to the means by
which it was raised ; but it was impossible to substantiate
against him a charge of high treason. It was only by the
will of a Parhament as stern and arbitrary as its master
that he could be condemned as a traitor ! Why Crum-
well should be given up to the vengeance of the people,
at this particular juncture of affairs, it is difficult to sur-
mise and useless to conjecture. So it was ; he who was
yesterday all powerful, found himself on the next day a
friendless traitor. When it was known that Crumwell
was in the Tower, the joy of the whole nation, and of
all parties in the nation, was as if a victory had been
won. The peers envied and hated liim ; the clergy feared
him, for he had hinted significantly, that the Church pro-
perty might share the fate of the monastic property ; the
men of the old learning abhorred the innovator ; and
although Protestants, in after ages, under the leadership
88 LIVES OF THE
of Foxe, have declared him to be " a most vahant soldier
and captain of Christ, studious in a flagrant zeal, to set
forth the truth of the Gospel,"* yet, at the time of his
1533-56. death, he was reputed even by them as one who had
betrayed their cause, who had supported, if he did not
suggest, the statute of the six articles. Cranmer alone
had the boldness to come forward in his defence, knowing
that, whatever his faults may have been, he certainly
was not a traitor to the king. Cranmer was never ad-
mitted into the secret counsels of the king, for Henry
respected his virtue too much to employ him in his duty
work. Cranmer looked therefore upon the case unpre-
judiced, and judged it on its own merits. He speaks of
Crumwell as his friend. This was especially generous
at the time. The word friend, however, is not to be re-
garded in the real de])th of meaning which may be at-
tached to that sacred word. He merely meant what is
still meant in parliament, when one member speaks of
another, with whom he has happened to be associated in
politics, as his honom^able friend. f They who read the
correspondence of Cranmer and Crumwell will be aware,
that there was not much either of intimacy or congeniality
between the two great men. Cranmer's letter to the
king on behalf of Crumwell has not been found entire.
For what has been preserved of it we are indebted to
Lord Herbert. It must be presented to the reader J: —
I heard yesterday in your grace's council that he (Crumwell)
is a traitor, yet who cannot be sorrowful and araazed that he
should be a traitor against your majesty, he that was so ad-
* Foxe, V. 403.
I It would appear from letter cclvii. that Crumwell was, for some
reason or other, in Cranmer's pay. The archbishop sent him £20 for .
his half-year's fee.
:}: Lord Plerbert, 519.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 89
vanced by jour majesty ; he -whose surety was ouly by your CHAP.
majesty ; he who loved your majesty, as I ever thought, no less ^^^ ,
than God ; he who studied always to set forwards whatsoever Thomas
was your majesty s will and pleasure ; he that cared lor no man s n .-gn-g
displeasure to serve your majesty ; he that was such a servant
in my judgment, in wisdom, diligence, faithfulness, and ex-
perience, as no prince in this realm ever had ; he that was so
vigilant to preserve your majesty from all treasons, that few could
be so secretly conceived, but he detected the same in the begin-
ning? If the noble princes of memory, King John, Henry II.,*
and Eichard II., had had such a counsellor about them, I
suppose that they should never have been so traitorously aban-
doned and overthrown as those good princes were. ... I loved
him as my friend, for so I took him to be ; but I chiefly loved
him for the love which I thought I saw him bear ever towards
your grace, singularly above all other. But now if he be a
traitor, I am sorry that I ever loved him, or trusted him, and
I am very glad that his treason is discovered in time ; but yet
again I am very sorrowful ; for who shall your grace trust here-
after, if you might not trust him? Alas ! I bewail and lament
your grace's chance herein. I wot not whom your grace may
trust. But I pray Grod continually, night and day, to send such
a counsellor in his place whom your grace may trust, and who
for all his qualities can and will serve your grace like to him,
and that will have so much solicitude and care to preserve yoiu-
grace from all dangers as I ever thought he had ... (14 June,
1540).t
As we have often to complain, the coudiict of Cranmer
did not correspond with his words. On referring to the
journals of the House of Lords, we find the bill of attahi-
der introduced on the 17th of June. The archbishop Avas
not present. The bill was read the second and third time
on the 19th of June, when Cranmer v^as in his place, and it
"was read without a dissentient voice. He was present at all
* Cranmer was not profound in his history. Henry is certainly the
name given in Cranmer's letter ; for Henry read Edward.
I Remains, letter cclviii.
90- LIVES OF THE
CHAP, the other processes of the bill, until it had received the
TTT
^_ — ^ - royal assent. Had proof been, in the meantime, introduced
Cranmer. sufficicnt to Satisfy the archbishop's mind, or, having ex-
1533-56. pressed his opinion, was he overawed ? To speak openly
and then to obey, this was his avowed principle as a poli-
tician. Crumwell was beheaded on the 28th of July, 1540.
It is frequently supposed that Cranmer, after this, re-
tired from pubhc life, and that the king for the rest of
his reign committed the affairs of state to the Bishop of
Winchester, Dr. Gardyner. But this assertion is more
easily made than proved ; it is, indeed, to apply the
notions and principles of the nineteenth century to the in-
terpretation of the actions of the sixteenth. A minister in
the time of Hemy YIII. was as different from what a
minister is, in the reign of Queen Victoria, as a clerk in a
pubhc office in these days differs from tlie head of his
department. When a minister obtained influence over
the royal mind he was called a favourite, and it was as a
favourite that he retained that influence. Wolsey was
all powerful because he managed the king ; he saved the
king. trouble, and though he ruled, he never showed that
he ruled. Crumwell was employed by the king to re-
plenish the treasury, as he had promised to do, but he
was not admitted to his friendship ; and when the king-
had delighted the people by the condemnation of Crum-
well, Hemy sought counsel from no one. He became, in
the strongest sense of the word, his own minister. This
is proved by the State Papers of his time. Even when
Wolsey was in power, there were some occasions on
which Henry did not consult his favourite minister ; and
it may be inferred that there were many more on which
he acted without the ad\dce of his council.*
* Proceedings of the Privy Council, vii. pref. p. xii. Two remark-
able examples of tlie secret manner in Avhich Henry VIII. sometimes
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTliEBURY. 91
Cranmer never iatnided an opinion except when asked,
and was very little about the Coiu-t. The same may be
said of Gardyner. Henry's insight into character was
one of the characteristics of his powerfid mind ; and that 1533-06.
he understood the character of Gardyner is clear from
what he said of him to Sir Anthony Browne : " that none
could use or rule Gardyner but his royal self, so trouble-
some was his nature, and so certain was he to cumber all
with w^hom he was associated."*
Such a man was not hkely to gain much influence over
Heniy's mind ; and Gardjmer was well aware that Henry
would not tolerate the proffer of ad\^ce unasked. Both
Wolsey and CrumweU fell, partly at least, from jealousy
on the part of the king. They had made themselves so
useful, that in both instances, the " Ego et Eex mens "
was imphed even if the presumptuous formula was not
actually used.
The exclusion of Gardyner from the Eegency of
Edward YL, by the will of Henry YHL, is sufficient to
show, that he had not that power, in the latter years of
Henry, which is sometimes attributed to him ; and for the
withdrawal of which those who gratuitously assert the
existence of his power are unable to account.
conducted affairs are given in the " State Papers." Part of the instruc-
tions with which Dr. Knight, the principal secretary, was fiu-nished on
his mission to Eome, in 1527, were concealed even from Wolsey him-
self (vol. i. 277) ; and in August, 154:1, when Henry contemplated an
intervieAV with James V. of Scotland, for which purpose passports
under the Great Seal were indispensable, he directed the Lord Chan-
cellor to prepare them, without disclosing the circumstance to any
member of the Privy Council in London ; and he was commanded
to make no more persons privy to the instruments than could pos-
sibly be avoided, all of whom were to be solemnly sworn to the strictest
secrecy. (Ibid. pp. 680, 681.)
* Ridley's Ridley, 183.
92- LIVES OF THE
CHAP. It is a remarkable circumstance, that while under the
-^ — ■- — ' act of supremac}", the administration of which the king
Cranmer. had confidcd to Cnimwell, the persecutions were so
1533-56. numerous as to defy calculation ; under the statute of six
articles, more apparently blood-thirsty, they were com-
paratively few. V/e may doubt, if the administration of
the last-mentioned statute had been confided to Gardyner,
whether this would have been the case. The object with
Henry was to prevent any party from having the pre-
dominance ; and to have placed the power in the hands of
a party leader would have been to stultify the whole policy
of the king. The king's pohcy was to preserve the tran-
quilhty of the countr}-, and for the furtherance of this
object the Privy Council was invested with enormous,
almost inquisitorial, powers. These powers were employed
not onlj^ in the detection of treasonable designs, and the
punishment of sedition j but if the public peace were Hkely
to be disturbed the Privy Council would descend to the
investigation of the grounds of a family dispute, or it
would take part, not always the partof justice, in a private
quarrel. In their body, parties were formed, and party
hatred could only be appeased by the blood of an opponent.
But the king's eye was upon the council. Henry knew the
character of every man he employed, and if any, instead
of labouring for the public good, were furthering objects
either of malice or self-aggrandizement they were not likely
to escape detection. He suffered no man to defraud the
country but himself; and though he allowed Crumwell
to take his percentage out of the spoils of the monasteries,
when he exceeded what the kin^^ re^zarded as his fair
perquisites, it was by his blood only that he could
expatiate his offence.
Of this we shall pr&sently liave a remarkable instance ;
but we must first follow the archbishop to his diocese.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CA^N'TERCURY. 93
As an administrator Cranmer had not been succe.<sfal. chap.
In some things, he was sufficiently arbitrary-, calhng in the -^ — ,-i_-
royal authority, wlien his powers as metropolitan were cranmer.
disputed. ISTothing could have been more arbitrary, as 1533-56.
we have seen, than the measures he adopted to silence
the clergy, immediately after sentence of divorce had been
pronounced against Katharine I. He knew that if the
expectants of preferment would be cautious, yet the feel-
ings of the great body of the clergy were in accordance
with those of the nation in general, and that against the
iniquitous divorce they would have exerted their elo-
quence. In consequence he prohibited all the clergy of
his diocese from preaching, except those who had ob-
tained a license from himself. C^ranmer was not the hero
whom the countenance of an urgent tyrant could not
move. With the same object in vieAv, that of preventing
the clergy from denouncing the divorce, he had entered
upon a metropolitical visitation in 1535, of which we have
spoken before, and which evinced on his part more of
zeal than of sound judgment.
In the next reign, we shall find Cranmer guilty — never
of cruelty, but still of harsh measures, to silence op-
ponents ; no measure being more arbitrary than that
which subjected the Church to a royal visitation. Be-
cause a metropohtical visitation was opposed by his suf-
fragans, he seems, as a punishment, to have resorted to
that extraordinary measure of appointing a royal com-
mission of enquiry.
But, not to anticipate ; now in 1543, the archbishop had
leisure for a diocesan visitation. A proof that the statute
of the six articles was not vigorously enforced is to be
seen at once, in the condition of the diocese. Super-
stitions were still prevalent, and by many of the clergy
encouraged as rehgious observances. Images were re-
94 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tained in the churches, and it was said, that they had
III . . '
-- — r^ — - power to heal tliose among the sick who paid to them
Cranmer their dcvotious. Holy Water was esteemed as efFicacious
1533-06. against thunder, hghtning, and evil spirits. Holy Candles
were employed for the purposes of vindictive sorcery. In
one place red-hot coals were poured upon the grave of
one who had been chaplain to the archbishop, to signify
the death such a heretic deserved. Such was superstition
in the one extreme ; on the other side, there were
men of the new learning who spoke of the ordinances
of the Church as mere acts of conjuring to fill the
pockets of the clergy, who were represented as pro-
fessors of legerdemain. Others taught it .to be the
bounden duty of a Christian man to eat eggs, butter, and
cheese in Lent.* All this is intelligible, but we are sur-
prised to find, that some there were, who went so far as to
decline preaching in favour of the royal supremacy. Even
against the archbishop's chaplain, Dr. Eidley, and against
his brother. Archdeacon Cranmer, charges were brought;
against the first, for teaching that, although auricular con-
fession was a godly means through which the sinner
might come to the priest for counsel, yet it was simply
a law of the Church, and not appointed by scripture ;
against the archdeacon, for removing candles from before
a high altar in Canterbur}% and for destroying a sacred
image. A prebendaiy of the cathedral was indicted for
declaiming against prayer in the M.dgar tongue.
It redounds to the credit of Cranmer, that he re-
sorted, under these circumstances, to no harsh measures
of coercion or repression. Although the statute of the
six articles prevented him from defending the refomiers,
so many men of the old learning might have been brought
* An amusing list of the cases which came before the archbishop
on this occasion is given in Strype, I. cxxv.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEKBURY. 95
to destruction for neglecting to assert the royal supremacy, chap.'
tliat, if his temper had been vindictive, he might have — ^ — ■
^v^ought the death of many who now reviled him and cranmtr.
hoped, through the statute, to bring the archbishop and 1533-06.
his followers into difficulties. Instead of this, and knowing
the king's intention, that the act shoidd only give him
powers wdiich he might use at his discretion, Cranmer
did what he could to prevent it from being perverted
into the means of persecution, by obtaining permission
from the king to introduce a measure, sometimes spoken
of as a mitigation of tlie preceding act, although, more
properly speaking, it was explanatory of it. He repre-
sented to the king, that the extreme severity of the
penalties by wdiich the articles were enforced rendered
the enforcement of them a thing impossible. It w^as pro-
vided, therefore — to render it almost impossible to apply
the statute to the pm^poses of religious faction — that no
person should be put to trial for any offence against the
six articles but upon the oath of twelve men ; that the
presentments should be made within one year after the
offence had been committed ; that no person should be
arrested for any such offence before he should be in-
dicted ; and that any accusation for speaking in opposition
to the act should be preferred within forty days of the
alleged dehnquency. The moderation of the archbishop
was less efficacious, because wherever he went he ap-
peared as a party man — not indeed as a Protestant,
but as an advocate of the men of the new learnino' ;
and the reactionary spirit against the reformation, pre-
valent throughout the country, was especially strong in
Kent.
There was in the Pri^y Council a strong party of the
men of the old learning. That Gardpier, in whose mind,
as in that of Bonner, a reaction had already taken place, had
96 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, much influence in the Council is highly probable ; but
- — r^— ■ the circumstances we are about to relate show, tliat he was
Cranmer. i^ot morc iu tlic sccrct couucils of the king than any
1533-06. other of the counsellors. Gardyner cordially hated Cran-
mer, and was the leader, with the Duke of Xoifolk, of
that faction which hoped to work his disgrace and ruin.
At one period of his life, expecting the archbishopric,
Gardyner had been most zealous in the cause of the divorce
and of the supremacy, but tlie elevation of Cranmer had
rendered him no longer zealous in supporting the kiner,
thougli he dared not oppose him. His party ^vas in com-
munication with the reactionaries, and especially with the
discontented people in Kent. It appears, that a supposition
prevailed that the king had changed his opinions ; and
a conspiracy was consequently formed against Cranmer.
Evidence was to be produced before the Council, that the
archbishop had deterred people from preaching, unless
they were friendly to the men of the new learning; that
he had caused certain images to be removed, though they
had not been abused to superstitious purposes ; that he
had corresponded with the German reformers, and liad
contributed to the support of some of their friends. We
can hardly imagine anythmg weaker than their cause,
and certainly Cranmer could not, as yet, have gone far in
the direction of Protestantism, when his most malicious
enemies could not bring against him any accusation
stronger than this. All would depend upon the humour
of the king. The majority of the Council were to be
shocked at such a deviation from the royal will, the
king was to be exasperated, and Cranmer sent to the
Tower.
But nothing could escape the vigilance of the king,
resolved as he was to preserve the peace of the country.
To him the conspiracy became known.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 97
The archbishop was at Lambeth. He heard the sound chap.
of music on the water ; such as betokened the passing of _I:^^L_
the royal barge. He immediately repaired to the bridge c^anmer.
or quay, to salute his royal master as he passed. The 1533-06.
king was on his way to Chelsea ; but when he saw the
archbishop, he told the watermen to pull near the shore,
and desired the archbishop to come on board. Xo sooner
was he seated, than with a merry voice he said : " Ah,
my chaplain, I have news for you ; I now know who is
the greatest heretic in Kent." He then pulled out of liis
sleeve a paper containing the charges brought against the
archbishop ; signed by certain prebendaries and justices
of the county. He desired the archbishop to inspect the
document. To the astonishment and amusement of the
king, the archbishop, as the custom then was in address-
ing royalty, bent his knee and entreated the king to
appoint a commission, by which the truth of what was
alleged might be ascertained, " so that from the highest
to the lowest they might be well punished, for an ex-
ample to others, if they had done otherwise than became
them." * " Marry," said the king, " that will I do, for I
have such affiance and confidence in your fidehty, that I
will commit the examination hereof wholly unto you
and such as you shall appoint." Morice, the archbishop's
secretary, who is our authority, tells us : " Then said my
Lord Cranmer, that will not, if it please your grace, seem
indifferent." " Well," said the king, " it shall be none
otherwise ; for surely I reckon you will tell me the truth ;
yea, of yourself, if you have offended. And, therefore,
make no more ado ; but let a commission be made out
to you and such other as you shall name, whereby I
may understand how this confederacy came to pass."
" And so," continues Morice, " a commission was made
* Morice, 252.
VOL. VII. H
98 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, out to my Lord Cranmer, Dr. Coxe, his cliancellor, and
■ — ^ — ' Dr. Bellasis, a master iu Chancer j, afterwards Archdeacon
Cranmer. of Colchcstcr, and Mi\ Husscy, his registrar ; " and pro-
1533-56. ceeding to Canterbury,* the commissioners entered upon
their investigation. The chancellor and registrar — ap-
pointed in the spirit of fairness on account of their
official position by the archbishop — were men of the old
learning, and his secret enemies. Through their artifices
nothing was discovered or disclosed, and it seemed that
their report would be that a false alarm had been raised,
Morice, however, the archbishop's secretary, saw through
their manoeuvres, and communicated his suspicions to
Dr. Butts, the royal physician, ■with whom, through
Shakspeare, we are all of us acquainted. By Dr. Butts
the king was informed of what was taking place, and to
the surprise of the chancellor and registrar, even of the
archbishop himself, Mr., afterwards Sir Anthony Denny,
and Dr. Leigh, made their appearance as additional
members, by the king's appointment, of the commission.
They immediately nominated nine or ten gentlemen to
search the houses of the suspected prebendaries and
magistrates ; and in a wonderfully short space of time a
correspondence was discovered, which not only proved
the conspiracy, but involved in its guilt some persons
of greater pohtical importance than the prebendaries
of Canterbury and the magistrates of Kent. Several
of the conspirators were committed to prison, there to
remain during the ai'chbishop's pleasure. All that he
required of them was, that they should give him some
security not to conspire against him for the time to come.
" And so," says Morice, " a parliament being at hand,
great labour was made by their friends for a general
* Strype says tliey sat at Faversliam, but Morice was present at the
proceedings.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 99
pardon, which Aviped away all pimishment and correction chap.
for the same, specially my Lord Cranmer being a man -.^ , .
that delighted not in revenging." * Cranmer.
The archbishop was deeply grieved to find among the 1533-06.
conspirators some who had been distinguished by his
patronage, and whom he had hitherto regarded as his
friends. He generously, however, forgave them all ; and
even, with respect to these, received them back into
favour.
To add to the troubles of the archbishop, at the end of
this year the palace at Canterbury was burnt to the
ground, and in the flames perished some of his friends,
his brother-in-law being one. The archbishop was on this
account exempted from the expense of maintaining the
Viceroy of Sicily, in making preparations for whose en-
tertainment the accident occurred.
When the parhament assembled, notwithstanding the
generosity of the archbishop in not opposing the bill of
indemnity, which was to whitewash those who had lately
conspired against his fair fame and his life itself, consider-
able animosity against him was displayed. Sir John Gost-
wick, M.P. for Bedfordshire, accused the primate of heresy
against the sacrament of the altar. On that point Cran-
mer certainly had not yet expressed any change of
opinion, and it was only on vague report that Sir John
made his attack. The speech was reported to the king,
" who marvellously stormed at the matter, calling openly
Gostwick a varlet, and said he had played a villainous
part so to abuse in open parliament the primate of the
* Foxe of course implicates Gardyner in the conspiracy, and is
followed by most writers, but his name is not mentioned by Morics.
A nephew of his was one of the conspirators, and the bishop made no
secret of his hostility to the primate, though he does not appear to
have committed himself to the present plot.
H 2
100 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, realm, specially being in favour with his prince as he was.
•^ ^ — - ' What will tliey (quoth the king) do with him if I were
Cranmer. gouc ? ' Whcrcupou the king sent word unto Mr. Gost-
1533-56. wick after this sort : 'Tell that varlet Gostwick that if he
do not acknowledge his fault unto my Lord of Canterbury,
and so reconcile himself towards him that he may become
his good lord, I will surely both make him a poor Gost-
wick and otherwise punish him to the example of others.'
Now Gostwick, hearing of this hemous tlu^at from the
king's majesty, came with all possible speed unto Lam-
beth, and there submitted himself in such sorrowful case,
that my lord out of hand not only forgave all the offence,
but also went directly unto the king, for the obtaining of
the king's favour again, which he obtained veiy hardly,
upon condition that the king might hear no more of his
meddling that way." *
From this time till the year 1545, the archbishop hved
in peace, pursuing his studies as we have before related,
and preparing for those further reforms which Henry
encourased him to desio'n, and which were carried into
effect in the next reign. But in the year just mentioned
he lost his great friend in the council, the Duke of
Suffolk, and his enemies were prepared once more to
attempt his ruin.
The archbishop was at Lambeth, and had retired to
rest, when at about eleven o'clock a boat arrived from
the opposite side of the river, and Sir Anthony Denny
was announced as the bearer of a message from the king.
The archbishop was required " incontinently " to wait
upon the king's majesty at Westminster. He immediately
took boat for the palace. Henry had that morning been
informed by his Privy Council that "the archbishop,
with his learned men, had so infected the whole realm
* Morice, 254.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUET. 101
with tlieir unsavomy doctrine, that three parts of the chap.
land were become abominable heretics ; and that it ^^ — ^ — -
might prove dangerous to the king, being hke to pro- Thomas
T 1 , • T Cranmer.
duce such commotions and uproars as were sprung up j533_-g
in Germany. And therefore they desired that the arch-
bishop might be committed unto the Tower, until he
might be exammed." The king was very strait in
granting this. They told him " that the archbishop,
being one of the Privy Council, no man dared to object
matter against him, unless he were first committed to
durance : which being done, men would be bold to tell
the truth, and say their consciences." *
The persons who thus applied for the king's permission
to commit Cranmer are the persons who are generally
supposed to have made Henry their puppet, for it is not
uncharitable to assume that the Duke of Norfolk and the
Bishop of Winchester w^ere the persons who took the lead
in this factious movement in the Privy Council. If they
could have controlled the king in private they would not
have thus come before him as a deputation from his
council. The king yielded to their solicitation, and per-
mitted them to call the archbishop before them the next
day, and if they saw cause to commit him to the Tower.
We are glad to know that Henry had still left in liim
some sense of justice, and felt what was due to a man on
whose friendship he could under all his difficulties rely.
He thought more of Cranmer 's heart than his head, while
he was flattered by knowing how entirely on the king's
judgment tlie archbishop relied.
On reaching Whitehall the archbishop found the king
pacing the long gallery in great pertm^bation of mind.
Heniy immediately mentioned what had happened in the
morning. He stated the charges brought against the
* Strype, I. 177.
102
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
lU.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-66.
arclibisliop by the council, and acknowledged that he had
yielded to their petition that he should be committed to
the Tower. He concluded with saying : " but whether I
have done well or no, what say you, my lord?" The
archbishop thanked the king for his consideration and kind-
ness in thus giving him warning, and added that he was
contented to be committed to the Tower for the trial of his
doctrine, so that he might be " indifferently heard ; " and
he expressed his con\iction that his majesty would see
him fairly used. I give the rest of this scene in the
words of Morice, which may be regarded as the ipsissima
verba of Cranmer himself. The king, after the archbishop
had expressed his willingness to go to the Tower, ex-
claimed : —
Oh Lord Grod ! what fond simplicity have you: so to permit
yourself to be imprisoned that every enemy of yours may take
vantage against you. Do you not think that if they have you
once in prison, three or four false knaves will be soon procured
to witness against jo\x and to condemn you, which else now,
being at your liberty, dare not once open their lips or appear
before your face. No, not so, my lord (quoth the king) ; I have
better regard unto you than to permit your enemies so to over-
throw you, and therefore I will that you to-morrow come to the
council, who no doubt will send for you, and when they break
this matter unto you, require tbem that being one of them you
may have thus much favour as they would have themselves,
that is, to have your accusers brought before you ; and if they
stand with you, without regard of your allegations, and will in
no condition condescend unto your requests, but will needs
commit you to the Towner, then appeal you from them to our
person, and give to them this ring (which he delivered unto my
Lord Cranmer, then), by the which (said the king) they shall
well understand that I have taken your cause into my hand from
them, which ring they well know that I use it to none other
purpose but to call matters from the council into my own hands
to be ordered and determined. And with this good advice my
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 103
Lord Cranmer, after most humble thanks, departed from the CHAP
king's majesty.*
Strype and those who follow liini give this speech with
the embellishments due to the imagination of Foxe,
not always improvements. The next day occurred the
scene with which we are familiar in the pages of Shak-
speare. Shakspeare adheres as usual to his authority,
putting in one or two of those master strokes which give
life to the picture.
I must briefly advert to what is so well known. The
archbishop, after his interview with the king, returned to
Lambeth in no very comfortable frame of mind ; for
when many enemies are bent upon one man's destruction,
the probability is that they will eventually succeed. The
next morning his Grace was summoned to the Council.
Intending to take his seat as usual at the board, he was
rudely repulsed at the Council Chamber door. There the
first peer of the realm remained with the serving men and
lackeys, while members of the council were passing and
repassing — all these insidts indicating a foregone con-
clusion. The archbishop's secretary, Morice, to Tyhose
account we adhere as that of an eye-witness of what took
place, was naturally indignant at the insult offered to his
master. On the former occasion, as we have narrated, he
communicated with the king's physician. Dr. Butts, and
he either sent for or called upon him now. Dr. Butts
mmediately went to the Council Chamber door, " to keep
my lord company." But before the archbishop was called
into the council, and while the faction which ruled the
council were debating how to proceed, it was arranged
that Dr. Butts should go at once to the king. Henry was
always accessible to his subjects, and Dr. Butts now told
* Morice, 256.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
104 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, his majesty that he had seen a strange sight. " Wliat is
- — ^-^ — - that?" quoth the king. "Marry," rephed Dr. Butts, "the
Cranmer. Archbisliop of Cauterbiuy is become a lackey or a serving
1533-56. man, for well I v^^ot he hath stood amongst them this
horn' almost at the Council Chamber door — so that I was
ashamed to keep him company any longer." "Wliat!"
quoth the king, " standeth he without the chamber door ?
Have they served me so ? It is well, enough ; I'll talk
with them by-and-by."
It is evident that this was a relief to the royal mind.
Hemy, willing to obhge the council, had acceded to
their request for the apprehension of the archbishop.
He repented of his promise ; he communicated w^ith the
archbisliop ; he promised to assist him ; but still he was
in a delicate position, until the council had now placed
themselves in the wrong, or, at all events, afforded him an
opportunity of simulating j ust indignation and anger.
Meantime the archbishop was commanded to appear
before the council. " 'It was declared to him, that a
great complaint was made of him both to the king and to
them, that he and other by his permission had infected the
wdiole realm with heresy, and therefore it was the king's
pleasure that they should commit him to the Tower, and
there for his trial to be examined.' My Lord Cranmer re-
quired, as is before declared, with many other both reasons
and persuasions, that he might have his accusers come there
before him, before they used any such extremit}^ against
him. In fine, there was no entreaty could serve, but that
he must needs depart (to) the Tower. ' I am sorry, my
lords (quoth my Lord Cranmer), that you drive me unto
this exigency, to (appeal) fi'om you to the king's majesty,
who by this token hath resumed this matter into his own
hands, and dischargeth you thereof ; ' and so delivered the
king's ring unto them. By-and-by the Lord Eussell sware
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 105
a great oath, and said : ' Did not I tell you, my lords, wliat CH.iP.
would come of this matter? I knew right well that the ■ ^ — -
king would never permit my Lord of Canterbury to have cranmer.
such a blemish as to be imprisoned, unless it were for io33-56.
higli treason.' And as the manner was, when they had
once received that ring, they left off their matter, and
went all unto the king's person both with his token and
the cause. When they came unto his highness, the king
said unto them, ' Ah ! my lords, I had thought that I had
had a discreet and wise council ; but now I perceive that
I am deceived. How have ye handled here my Lord of
Canterbury ? Wliat ! make ye of him a slave, shutting
him out of the Council Chamber amonoj>t servini]^ men ?
Would you be so handled yourselves.' And after such
taunting words, said : ' I would you should well under-
stand that I account my Lord of Canterbury as faithful a
man towards me as ever was prelate in this realm, and
one to whom I am many ways beholden, by the faith I
owe unto God (and so laid his hand upon his breast) ; and
therefore who so loveth me (said he) will regard him
thereafter.' And with these words all, and specially my
Lord of Norfolk, answered and said : ' We meant no
manner hurt unto my Lord of Canterbury in that we
requested to have him in durance. That we only did
because he might, after his trial, be set at liberty to his
more glory.' ' WeU,' said the king, ' I pray you that
you use not my friends so. I perceive now well enough
how the world goeth among you. There remaineth malice
among you one to another ; let it be avoided out of hand,
I advise you.' And so the king departed, and the lords
shook hands every man with my Lord of Canterbury,
Cranmer, against whom never more no man durst spurn
during king Hemy's life."*
* Morice, 257.
lOG LIVES OF THE
CHAP. The scene thus graphically described by a contem-
- — r^ — - porary, we may almost say by Cranmer himself, since he
Cranmer. was his Secretary's authority, is of considerable value.
1533-56. It shows US Hcury's skill in managing men ; the mixture
in his character of much humour with a fierceness which
kept men sometimes in a state of suspense, whether all
was to end in a comedy or whether to some there would
be a tragical termination.
Hemy had as much faith in the tendency of a good
dinner, to effect a reconciliation between parties at va-
riance, as Homer himself. On the passing of the statute
of six articles, the king had commanded the archbishop
to invite the House of Lords to dine with him at Lam-
beth ; and now all differences were to be made up by a
similar entertainment, which the archbishop was glad to
give, at the king's command, to the Lords of the Council.
It had been, nevertheless, with a very heavy heart that
Cranmer obeyed the royal mandate with respect to the
hospitality he was expected to show on the passing of the
statute just mentioned.
By no one was the effect of the passing of that act
more painfully felt than it was by Cranmer. It broke up
his happy home. It divorced liim from his wife for a
season, and separated him from his children. How
deeply affected Cranmer was upon the occasion we learn,
through the gossiping propensities of Alexander Ales, in
a document which has been lately discovered among the
State Papers. Alexander Ales, through the patronage of
Crumwell, had become a professor at Cambridge. Crum-
well employed him for his own purposes, made him the
lion of the town for a season, and then neglected him.
In 1539, the professor had come to London to solicit
from Crumwell the payment of his salary then in arrear.
Ales was, though a priest, a married man, and the arch-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 107
bishop, whose care for his friends was one of his amiable chap.
characteristics, sent for him to Lambeth. He wished to warn -^ — ^ — -
him, that the protection which he had hitherto extended to cranmer.
a married priest could be extended no longer. He advised 1533-56.
him to leave England without loss of time, exclaiming : —
" Happy man that you are, you can escape. I wish that I could
do the same ! Truly my See would be no hindrance to me.
And now you must make all haste to quit the island before a
blockade is established, unless you are willing to sign the decree,
as I have done. I have sealed it, compelled by fear. I repent
of what I have done ; and if I had known, that my only punish-
ment would have been deposition from my archbishopric — as I
hear my Lord Latimer is deposed — of a truth I would not have
subscribed. I am grieved that you have been deprived of your
salary for three years by Crumwell, that you have no funds for
your travelling expenses, and that I have no ready money. I
dare not mention this to my friends, lest the king should become
aware that I have given you warning to escape, and that I have
provided you with the means of travelling. I give you, how-
ever, this ring as a token of my friendship. It at one time
belonged to Thomas Wolsey, and it was presented to me by the
king when he gave me the archbishopric." *
They parted, in this world never to meet again.
Cranmer's wife was already gone.
His true and honorable wife.
As dear to him as were the ruddy drops
That visited his sad heart.
It may be expedient here to pause, in order that we
may place under one point of view what may be gathered
* State Papers, Elizabeth, 533, The report of this conversation,
given by Ales himself to Queen Elizabeth, is important as throwing •
light upon the character of the archbishop, as well as upon the king.
Crumwell refused to assist Ales, whom he had formerly patronized. He
said he did not dare to speak to him. To solicit his dismissal, or to
give him anything, would be to offend the king. He promised to send
what he owed him into Germany.
108 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, from various sources, relating to Cranmer's private life
III. . . .
^-;— ^^ — and domestic relations. Various little anecdotes have
Cranmer. bccu prcscrvcd, wbicli tlirow light upon his character,
1533-56. and, to a certain extent, explain and qualify certain
objectionable points in his political career.
His clandestine marriage, as he had foreseen, subjected
him to continual annoyances. It not unfrequently in-
volved him in difficulties, and placed his wife in painful
situations.
The husband and wife were well aware, that through-
out the reign of Henry VHI. they might, at any moment,
be compelled to separate, and that they were surrounded
by enemies, who woidd have found, in their separation,
an indulgence to their malignant passions or vindictive
feelings. In the lingering immorality of medi^evalism,
clerical concubinage, though denounced by the canons,
was winked at by society ; and Cranmer was probably
enabled to live with his wife, by rendering it difficult, if
not impossible, for his adversaries to prove that a marriage
between him and Margaret had ever taken place.* But
this placed her in a position which must have been
painful to her husband and annoying to herself. Mrs.
Cranmer was, however, not a woman of much sensibility
or refinement. One would have supposed that the widow
of such a man as Cranmer would have retained her weeds
to the hour of her death, and have regarded them with
* Under the statute of the six articles it was constituted felony for a
cleric to live Avith his wife. There can be little doubt that this was a
blow aimed at Cranmer. They were indebted for their security to the
uncertain character of the king. Cranmer was known to be a favourite
with the king, and no one knew what might be the fate of any informant
against the archbishop. The king, who knew everything, knew of the
marriage, and if he winked at it who would dare to find fault. In the
preceding chapter the proclamation against the married clergy is
given.
I
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 109
pride. But after the archbishop's execution she was chap.
twice married. She was first wedded to Edward Whit- - — ^^ — -
church, the printer ; and on his death, in 1561, the widow cranmer.
of Cranmer and Whitchurch was again wedded, in 1564, 1533-06.
to Bartholomew Scott, Esq., a justice of the peace for the
county of Surrey.'"'
In the gossip of the day, various stories were afloat
concerning the primate and his wife. As an example, we
may mention one. It was reported that on certain
occasions, when the archbishop was travelling in state,
his wife was packed up in a chest and carried with him.
Once upon a time, the story goes, the precious chest was
consigned to a porter who was not made aware of the
treasure it contained. Poor mistress Cranmer was in the
first place tossed and jolted on the man's shoulders, and
then in the barrow of the porter. She kept, however,
her sorrows to herself, until at length the bmxlen was
deposited at the palace door, but topsy turvy. She was
now obhged to scream, and the servants rushing to her
rescue, compelled the astonished porter to surrender his
precious burden.
This story, first told, if not invented, by Sanders, has
been handed on by succeeding writers down even to
Dr. Milner, though we presume that it will find credit
with no one who has not a party end to serve by turning
a great man into ridicule. But this and similar stories are
not without their historical value. They would not have
* Collect, Topog. et Genealogica, iii. 14.5. Both Wiitchurcli and
Scott resided at Camberwell. In the epitaph of the latter his first wife
(for Scott married three times) is described as " Marget ye wido of ye
right Eev. Prel. and Martyr, Tho. Cranmer, Archbish. of Canterburie."
By Todd and those who follow him she is called Ann. Todd does
not give his authority, and he is usually accurate. She may have
had two Christian names. Her eldest daughter was Ann, her second
Marsraret.
110 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, been told, unless the inventors of them had been certain
> ,^:_- that they would be received as something possible.
Cranmer. Whether truc or not, they were at the time believed.
1533-56. They prove that though the marriage was known, it
was not publicly announced, and that although Mrs.
Cranmer was visited by the archbishop's personal friends,
yet on pubhc occasions she was kept in the back ground.
We may mention, as confirmatory of this, that when we
look at the dates attached to Cranmer's letters, we find,
that he resided for the most part at one or other of the
country residences attached to his see ; at Croydon, at
Otford, but chiefly at Ford. Ford was conveniently
situated, being near to Canterbuiy, and not far from
Heme, the parish of Eidley. The manor house — the most
ancient except the palace at Canterbury — had been given
to the see by Ethelbert, and had lately been rebuilt by
Archbishop Morton. The archbishop was, as we have
before recounted, a keen sportsman, and the park we
know was filled with game; for it is recorded that
his successor. Archbishop Whitgift, wdio was equally
fond of field sports, was accustomed here to follow the
chase.
Cranmer's love of retirement, where only he could
enjoy that intercourse with his beloved family for which
he sacrificed so much, rendered him unpopular at Can-
terbury, where the citizens expected the archbishop to live
in splendour ; and although when he visited the metro-
polis he kept great state and hospitality at Lambeth, yet
the Londoners were not well pleased, as their countless
barges passed the gates of Lambeth, to see that the
manor house was only occupied when the primate was
compelled by business to attend the Parliament, the
Convocation, or the Privy Council; or when he was
summoned to wait upon the king at Westminster.
ARCHBISHOPS OF C;VNTERBUEY. Ill
The secret of Ms marriage may also, to a certain ex- chap.
tent, account for Cranmer's extreme subser\'iency to the .^ ,i_.
king. Henry must have known tliat Cranmer had a c^anmer.
family, but he forbore to enquire whether the mother 1533-56.
of the archbishop's children were his wedded wife. We
find Wolsey, though not a profligate man, making pro-
vision for one child at least ; and so obfuscated had become
the moral perceptions of men, tln^ough the constrained
celibacy of tlie clergy, that Henry would not have regarded
Cranmer's cohabitation with a concubine any serious im-
peachment of the moral character of a prelate. The truth
had, however, become known to the king during the
passing of the statute of six articles. It was in favom- of
Cranmer, that, in his proclamation, the king directed his
attack only upon those of the clergy who had openly
declared their marriage, or should hereafter enter into the
marriage state.^ Henry took an opportunity, indeed, of
informing Cranmer that the act should not be put in force
against him, when it was evident that his adversaries
thought they had at length a case against the archbishop.
The king, in familiar conversation, stated that the arch-
bishop's obedience to the statute was questioned, when
Cranmer declared that his opinion had always been
against the passing of the bill, but that since it had be-
come an act of parliament he had scrupulously observed
it. The king, assuming an air of pleasantry, demanded
whether liis chamber would stand the test of the articles.
The archbishop solemnly declared that this test he could
stand, since immediately after the passing of the act he
had sent his wife back to her friends in Germany,
This was a good-natured way of imparting to Cranmer
the fact, that Henry had penetrated the designs of his
enemies, and that while it became the archbishop to
* Strype, Book i. c. 18.
112
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
act with caution, he had, nevertheless, a friend m the
king.
How far the king was, antecedently to this, acquainted
with his secret, Cranmer did not know ; but tliis he did
know, that the king might at any moment be prompted
to make the enquiry ; and aware of the uncertain temper
and the despotic disposition with which he had to deal,
he felt that his happiness, his station, and his very life
were in the king's hand. To conciliate the king was,
therefore, with him a matter of policy ; and the course
marked out by prudence it was the more easy to follow,
since ^\dth the natural admiration which a weak mind
feels for a strong one, and with the abundant gratitude
with which a generous spirit accepts little acts of kindness
fi-om a superior, Cranmer loved Henry, and Henry, saga-
cious to perceive that Cranmer's attachment to him was
personal, regarded the archbishop with as much of the
holy feeling of friendship as a character so selfish is
capable of experiencing.
Of Cranmer's domestic habits we have some account
from his private secretary, Morice."^ His usual hour of
rising was five o'clock. The first four hours of the day
were generally given to devotion and reading. He did
not, in reading, trust to his memory, but had liis common-
place book always at hand ; and instead of taking his ease
in his chair, he read standing at his desk. His custom of
early rising and of standing while he read was certainly
conducive to Ms health, although, in regard to either
practice, some strength of constitution is required. At
* " A declaration concern jng the Progeny, •with the maner and trade
of the lif and bryngyng upp, of that most Eevereut Father in God,
Thomas Cranmer, late archbishop of Canterbury, and by what order
and meanes he came to his prefermente and dignitie." Printed by the
Camden Society from a MS. in L.C.C.C.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CA^'TERBURY. 113
nine o'clock he received visitors, and transacted business chap.
ni.
till one, the usual hour for dinner. After dinner, he was
T , . . . 1 1 • 1 1 • Thomas
prepared to hear any suitor or petitioner who claimed nis cranmer.
attention,and by his courtesy and kindness of manner he 1533-06.
won the goodwill of all who approached him, even though
in their suit they might have been unsuccessful. When
such business was over, he enjoyed, if in the countr}% the
healthy field sports in which he always excelled, or else he
indulged himself in a ganie of chess, or in looking over
the game as played by his children. At five o'clock, he
repaired to his chapel ; there, until the year 1549, or
dm-ing the first sixteen years of his primacy, to assist in
the office of the Breviary, and after that time, in that re-
vision of the Breviaiy which has assumed the shape of
our Book of Common Prayer. He devoted the interval,
between chapel and supper time, to recreation, and when
the weather permitted it, to out-door exercises. Supper
was not with him a formal meal. He frequently did
not partake of it ; but he always appeared in the hall,
where he welcomed his guests, and remained in the en-
joyment of their society till nine o'clock, when he retired
to rest.
His establishment was well ordered, and his servants
were bound to him by ties of affection and gratitude. The
officers of his extensive household maintained a strict dis-
cipline ; and every Friday the archbishop himself held,
as it were, a court, at which any of the servants who
thought themselves wronged might appeal to his Grace.
Never was the family so happy, as when Hugh Latimer
was a guest of the archbishop ; and towards the close of
his hfe he lived with him entirely. He was the wit of
the " new learning," the Sydney Smith of the age. He
was not always decorous in his manners, and sometimes
his merriment was ill-timed. When the primate was, on
VOL. VII. I
11 J: LIVES OF THE
CH.4P. one occasion, presiding at a court which Avas to decide
-— -^^ — - upon the legal murder of Sir Thomas More, the illustrious
Cranmer. pHsoucr was required to withdraw. The day was hot,
1533-56. and More declined going into the garden, but took his
seat at a window from which he could see all that was
passing below. " And I saw," he said, " Master Latimer
very meny, for he laughed and took one or twain by the
neck so handsomely, that if they had been women I should
have weened that he waxed wanton." *
Although Cranmer entertained for Latimer a sincere
friendship, and received him, at the close of his life, as a
regular inmate of his family, yet he was aware of the
weaknesses as well as of the vhlues of his eccentric fr'iend.
Latimer's eccentricities occasionally involved the more
prudent archbishop in difficulties. On one occasion, he
had preached at Bristol a sermon in favour of the divorce
of Queen Katharine and the royal supremacy with liis
usual vehemence, jocosity, and want of judgment ; and a
disturbance was the consequence, a regular riot ensuing
between the men of the old learnino; and the men of the
new. For extending his patronage to such a man the arch-
bishop was censured, and bravely did Cranmer meet his
assailants. He knew that the king loved to hear an out-
spoken man, especially on the supremacy and divorce,
and he used his interest with Crumwell to have Latimer
appointed one of the Lent preachers at Com-t. At the
same time, he felt rather anxious when the experiment
was to be made, and addressed the following letter, full
of worldly wisdom, to Latimer : —
" I commend me unto you, &c. These be to certify you of the
king's pleasure, how that his grace is contented that ye shall
be admitted to preach on all the Wednesdays of this next Lent
before him. Whereupon I thought it very expedient, for divers
*^ Roper's IMore, 179.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 115
considerations reasonably moving thereto, to admonish you of CHAP.
certain things in no wise to be neglect and omitted on your . • _,
behalf, in time of your preaching : which to observe and follow Thomas
-1 J 1 n Cranmer.
according to mine advice hereafter to you prescribed, shall at \r^2,Z-b&
the length redound to your no little laud and praise.
" First, therefore, take this order (if ye will), reading over the
book ye take for your purpose some processes of Scripture, the
Gospel, Pistil], or any other part of Scripture in the Bible, and
the same to expound and declare according to the pure sense
and meaning thereof; wherein above all things it will be most
convenient, that ye do not at all persuade for the defence of
your own causes and matters lately in controversy ; but that ye
rather do seem utterly (to pass over) those your accusations,
than now in that place any sparkle or suspicion of grudge should
appear to remain in you for the same. This done, that likewise
ye be very circumspect to overpass and omit all manner speech,
either apertly or suspiciously sounding against any special man's
facts, acts, manners or sayings, to the intent your audience
have none occasion thereby, namely to slander your adversaries,
which would seem to many that you were void of charity, and so
much the more unworthy to occupy that room. Nevertheless,
if such occasion be given by the Word of God, let none offence
or superstition be unreprehended, specially if it be generally
spoken without affectation.
" Furthermore, I would ye should so study to comprehend
your matters, that in any condition you stand no longer in the
pulpit than an hour, or an hour and a half at the most, for by
long expense of time the king and the queen shall perad venture
wax so weary at the beginning that they shall have small delight
to continue without with you to the end. Therefore let the
effect of the premises take no place in your mind, specially
before this circumspect audience, to the intent that you in so
doing need not to have any other declaration hereafter against
the misreports of your adversaries. And for your further in-
struction in this behalf I would ye should the sooner come up
to London, here to prepare all things in areadiness, according
to such expectation as is had in you."*
* Remains. Letter cxxx. Harl. MS. 6148.
i2
116 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. The arclibishop was not in advance of his ao:e on the
III . . "^^ •
• ^ — ■ subject of toleration, when the law was to be maintained ;
Cninmer. but whcnevcr he was personally or privately concerned,
1533-06. he evinced a liberal mind and a mild disposition, the
more remarkable, as it seemed to be scarcely intelligible
to those with whom he was associated. Morice, for
example, tells us that the lenity with which the archbishop
overlooked offences provoked Dr. Hethe, afterwards Arch-
bishop of York, w^ith unoffending sarcasm one day to say
to him : " I knoAv liow to win all things at your hands
well enough." " How so?" quoth my lord. " Marry ! "
replied Dr. Hethe, " I perceive I must first attempt to do
you some notable displeasure, and then by a little relent-
ing obtain from you what I desire." AYhereat, continues
Morice, " my lord bit his lip, as his manner was when he
was moved, and rejoined, "You say well, and yet you
may be deceived."
This characteristic anecdote is worth much, and the
reader will remember hoAV admirably it is noticed by
Shakspeare : —
" The common voice I see is verified
Of thee, which saj's thus : Do my Lord of Canterbury
A shrewd turn and he is your friend for ever."
Many faults in such a man were overlooked by his
contemporaries, and may be passed over with complacency
by posterity. It was thought by those around him, that
he carried this virtue to an extreme, that he gave en-
couragement to his enemies and discouraged his friends.
He, on his part, complained that many Protestants, by
their " outrageous doings," placed a stumbhng-block in
the way of those who had not yet come to a knowledge
of the Gospel. He determined to tread in the steps of
his Divine Master, and to remember that those who erred
AECHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 117
from ignorance of tlie trutli Avere to be beaten with only chap.
a few stripes, while the many stripes were intended for -^— ,-!_-
such as acted in opposition to the dictates and warnings cranmer.
of conscience. This principle, we shall find, he carried 1533-06.
out in the " Eeformatio Legum ; " and on this principle
he acted in interceding for the Lady Mary, when her
exasperated father thought of sending her to the Tower
for rehising to relinquish the title of Princess, or to re-
nounce the supremacy of the Bishop of Eome.
In the autobiography of Edward Underhill, who was
regarded, or who accounted himself, a man of more than
ordinary piety, we have another instance of the archbishop's
lenity — his culpable lenity, as it appeared to Underhill.
This '- man of God " had a quarrel with Henry Moore, the
vicar of Stepney, abbot formerly of Eastminster.* In the
lawless reign of Edward VI., Underhill apprehended the
unfortunate vicar, and carried him off to Croydon, where
the archbishop was at that time residing. The charge
against the vicar was, that when strange preachers forced
themselves into his pulpit he disturbed them. Sometimes
the godly preachers were disturbed in their discourse by
the ringing of the bells. At other times, when the sermon
was not half done, the hour of divine service had arrived,
and the singing in the choir commenced. At other times
the vicar would, in his own church, challenge the preacher
who had taken possession of his pulpit. Mr. Underhill's
neighbours were " weary of the vicar of Stepney, espe-
cially those who Hved at Limehouse, Mr. Dryver, Mr. Ive,
Mr. Poynter, Mr. Marche, and others," and probably the
vicar Avas rather provoking. But those eminent men —
Mr. Dryver, Mr. Ive, Mr. Poynter, and Mr. Marche —
* Henry Moore liad been Abbot of St. Mary de Grace, near the
Tower of London. MS. Harl. 6956, p. 74. He was presented to the
vicarage of Stepney on the 6th of March, 1544. Newcourt, i. 740.
118 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, "durst not meddle with him until it ^Yas my hap to
— ^ — - come and dwell among them. And for that I AS'as the
king's servant I took upon me, and they went with me
to the archbishop, to witness those things against him.
The archbishop was too full of lenity. A little he re-
buked him and bade him do so no more. ' My lord,' said
I, ' methinks you are too gentle with so stout a papist.'
' Well,' said he, ' we have no law to bind them by.' ' We
have, my lord,' said I ; ' if I had your authority, I would
be so bold as to unvicar him, or minister some sharp
punishment to him and such other. If ever it come to
their turn they will show you no such favour.' ' Well,'
said the archbishop, ' If God so provide we must abide
it.' ' Surely,' said I, ' God ^dU never con you thanks for
this, but rather take the sword from such as will not use
it upon his enemies.' And thus we parted."*
But although the temper of Cranmer was naturally j
mild, and such as won the esteem of all who approached '
him, he could on principle, as we shall hereafter see,
become occasionally stern and even harsh. In juxtapo-
sition with the statements just made we may place the
following letter to Thirlby, Archdeacon of Ely. It is
dated May, 1534. The occasion is not known: — " Master
Archdeacon, I commend me unto you ; signifying to you
that I have received your letters, with a billet from the
King's Highness in them enclosed, whereby amonges
other things I perceive your ambitious mind in seeking
your own glory and advancement of your name, and that
unjustly without your deserts, in that you desire to have
me confess by writing your diligence, laying to my charge
that heretofore I have been a testimony of your negli-
gence. If you have hitherto been accounted negligent,
there is nothing as me seemeth as yet commenced and
* Autobiography of Edward Undcrhill, 157.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 119
done on your behalf whereby you do not declare youi'self ch.ip.
indeed the same man that I spake in word ; although you r^ — -
have changed the kind of neglicfence from a slow nesili- Cranmer.
gence to a rash negligence. For so negligently you have io33-o6.
run of heed in this matter that you have advertised me
never a word of those things which I desire to know the
king's pleasure in.''
We are pleased wdth Cranmer's attention to the cour-
tesies of life and minor morals of society. We find him not
forgetfid of his old coUege fiiends, and I doubt not that my
readers will peruse with interest the following little note,
preserved by chance among his papers, and addressed to
Dr. Capon, the master of Jesus College, Cambridge : —
" In my right hearty wise I commend me unto you, &c. And
so certifying you that I send you here a buck to be bestowed
amonges your company within your college. And forasmuch
as you have more store of money and also less need than I at
this season, therefore I bequeath a noble of your purse towards
the baking and seasoning of him. And whensoever I have so
much money beforehand as I am now behindhand I shall repay
you your noble again. And thus fare you well. From my
manor of Croydon, the xxvi. day of June.
" To the Master of Jesus College in Cantabrige." *
He had, when he was first appointed, to look after his
supply of venison, which, no doubt, was an important item
in his expenses, when he was obliged to maintain a
large establishment and to entertain much company. The
Earl of Arundel evidently hoped to escape a customary
payment ; but Cranmer looked carefully after his dues^
as the following letter will show.
To Lord Arundel.
" In my right hearty wise I commend me unto your good
lordship, &c. And where I am credibly informed of a certain
* Letter xvi. Harl. MSS. 6148, f. 22, b.
120
LIVES OF THE
CH.AJ'. composition concluded between my predecessors and yours,
— / _^ concerning the game and other liberties in the forest of Arundell,
Thomas fQj. ^j^g number of thirteen bucks or stags in summer, and for so
1533-56. ^^iiy does or hinds in winter, which as is more plainly specified
are yearly due unto the Archbishop of Canterbury's larder,
within his manor of Slyndon : in consideration hereof, and for-
asmuch as the store of my other parks and games are now, by
reason of this last vacation, utterly wasted and decayed, whereby
I am at this season destitute of venison, both for myself and my
friends ; and so am thereby also now constrained more effectually
to require of you this my said duty herein, I most heartily desire
your lordship, that I may have these my said bucks or stags at
3'our pleasure at this time. And hereafter when my game is
better increased and replenished I shall be as glad again to
accomplish your requests in such like matters from time to
time &c.
"To my very singular good Lord, my Lord of Arundell."*
To various members of his family lie was an affectionate
kinsman and a benefactor. According to Thoroton and
Todd, the elder branch of his family was indebted to the
archbishop for an increase of the family property. To his
nephew the archbishop assigned the advowson of the rec-
tories of Aslacton and Whatton, which the archbishop
purchased in the first year of Edward VI., and which had
belonged to the dissolved monastery of Welbeck. Todd
affirms that this monastic property was assigned to his
nephew on the condition, that the archbishop's wife, if she
survived him, should enjoy the revenues, and that after
her death the rectories and manors should be the united
property of the head of the Cranmer family. Possessed
of both, this nephew died, and to his heir they descended.
The same affectionate disposition is discernible in the fol-
lowing letter addressed to his brother-in-law, Harold
* Letter xxxviii. Ilarl. MSS 6184. fob 30.
1533-56.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 121
Eosell, Esq., of Eadcliffe-on-Treiit. who had married the chap.
archbishop's sister Dorothy. ^ — A — ■
Thomas
*' Brother Eosell, in my right hearty wise I commend me unto Craumer.
you, and in likewise to my sister your bedfellow, &c. And
where I understand that your son is very apt to learn, and given
to his book, I will advise you therefore that ye sufler not him
to lose his time, but either that ye set him forth to school at
Southwell, or else send him hither unto me, that at the least
between us he utterly lose not his youth, &c. Further I pray
you have me commended unto your father and mother. And
thus fare ye well. From my manor of Otteforde, &c." *
The amiable qualities of Cranmer's character sometimes
degenerated into weakness. It will be difficult to justify
liis proceedings with respect to the promotion of his
brother Edward. Next to a bishopric the most lucrative
preferment in the Church was the archdeaconry of Canter-
bury. On Cranmer's appointment to the See of Canter-
bury, this profitable and important office was held by
William Warham, a nephew of the late archbishop. Xot
only did the new archbishop interfere with the arch-
deacon's leases in favour of one of his servants, but ho
actually persuaded or compelled him to resign both the
archdeaconry and the provostship of Wingham, in March,
1534 ; and Edward Cranmer received the two appoint-
ments. What added to the offence was, that the resigna-
tion was effected through a simoniacal contract. The
resigning archdeacon, with the privity and consent of the
primate, was to receive a pension of sixty pounds a year
out of the archdeaconry, and twenty pounds a year out
of Wingham. It was amiable in the archbishop to deshe
to make his brother a sharer of liis own good fortune ; it
was deshable that he shoidd have an archdeacon in whom
* Harl. MSP. 6148. fol. 31.
122 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, he could confide, and what was done was probably not
-;— .-^ — - done, at that careless period, Avithoiit a precedent. Never-
Craumer. tliclcss, onc who had avowcd Ms intention to correct
1533-56. abuses in the Cliurch of England ought not to have com-
menced his career by an act of simony.
To this we must add the fact, that in the correspond-
ence of Cranmer, there are several requests made to the
king's vicar-general, for grants out of the Abbey lands
in favour of his friends. In one he asks for the suppres-
sion of Eocester or Crockesden, that his servant Francis
Basset might have a lease of one of the houses.
As this part of Cranmer's life is either slurred over or
ignored by bis apologists, I shall present to the reader
the following document, by which it will be seen that he
obtained, in the reign of Edward YL, the confirmation of
grants made to him in the time of Henry YIII.*
" Marcli 20. 1 Edw. YL
" Indenture between the king of the first part, Edward
Duke of Somerset Lord Protector, Sir Wilham Paulett Knight,
Lord Saint John, Sir John Eussell, Knight, Lord Kussell, Sir
John Dudle}^, Knight, and others of the second part, and Thomas
Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury of the third part.
" Reciting that the late king by his will directed that all grants,
&c. not perfected should be completed by his executors, and
that his counsellors were to perform all necessary acts during
the minority of Edward VL
" And reciting that the Lord Protector and other his co-execu-
tors knowing that the late king intended, in consideration of
true and faithful service done by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
as also for £429 14.«f. 2d., to have granted to him and his heirs
for ever the site of the late Priory of Arthington, Co : York,
together with all lands pertaining, and also the site of the late
monastery of Kirstall in the same county with all lauds pertain-
ing, and also the parsonages and churches of Whatton and As-
* Dceils of Purchase and Exchange. Echv. VL Nos. 31 (a & b).
AKCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 123
lacton, Co : Nottingham, to the late monastery of Welbeke in the CHAP,
same county lately belonging, and the advowsons of the same, , ' .
and also the manor of Woodball, Co : Nottingham, late parcel of Thomas
jy Cranmer.
the lands of Thomas Grraye, Esquire, and also the advowson of i^^^_r,Q
Kingsnorth, Co : Kent, to hold to the same archbishop his heirs
and assigns for ever by the service of the twentieth part of a
knight's fee, at the yearly rent of I2s. for Arthington, £6 Os. Id.
for Kirstall, 33s. 4cZ. for Whatton, 16s. 8d. for Aslacton, and to
hold Woodball and Kingsnorth of the king as of his castle of
Nottingham, by fealty only, in free socage and not in chief, and
reciting that the grant of the premises were not made in the life-
time of the said late king.
" Therefore the king agrees by patent to be made before the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist next, to grant the same premises
unto the Archbishop his heirs and assigns for ever."
Cranmer's family consisted of two daughters, Ann, who
died in her father's lifetime, and Margaret, who survived
him, with a son who bore the same Christian name as
himself. His son Thomas w^as deprived of the monastic
estates with which the archbishop had thus endowed his
family — lands belonging to the monastery of Kirkstall and
the nunnery of Arthington — in the reign of Queen Mary.
He petitioned Queen EKzabeth to be restored to the
woods and lands pertaining to the monastery of Kirkstall
and the nunnery of Arthington, on the ground of liis being
his father's heir, restored in blood by an act of parlia-
ment, February 27, 1562-3.*
The tenderness with which this part of Cranmer's
conduct is sometimes approached, is occasioned by his
apologists overlooking the fact, that the transaction was
not regarded by Cranmer, liis nephew or his son, with
those feeUngs wdiich have been prevalent since the
time of Spelmau. By many persons who treat of the
* Original MS. Lnnsdown MSS., No. 107, Art. 72.
124 LIVES OF THE
ciL\p. dissolution of the monasteries, the monastic property is
^-— r-^ — - confused in their minds with Church property. The
Cranmer. uiouastic property, however, Avas no more Church property
1533-56. than is at the j^resent day the property belonging to the
colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. The colleges are
more closely allied to tlie Church of England than were
the monasteries. The monasteries being, for the most
part, opposed to the disciphne of the Church and the
regimen of the bishops. A secular clergyman did not
regard the spoliation of the regulars with an evil eye, and
when the property was on sale, they did not imagine that
the purchase of it was sacrilege. This has been an after-
consideration — and we must not approach the conduct of
the sixteenth century with a sentiment which only came
into vogue at a subsequent period.
It is fair to make this observation in passing, although
it is w^ith the fact, not Avith the exculpation of Cranmer,
that we are here concerned : the fact is indisputable that,
however we may account for it. Archbishop Cranmer
invested his money in the confiscated property of the
monasteries, and purchased the forfeited Abbey lands.
I confess, that I find it more difficult to account for or
to palliate Cranmer's conduct in another particular. The
king having squandered and gambled away the estates of
the monks, began now to cast a longing eye upon the
lands of the secular clergy. It seems that parliament had
empowered ecclesiastical corporations, sole and aggregate,
to exchange estates with the king ; or to alienate eccle-
siastical property in his majesty's favour. The pretence
was, that the kino; and the clero-v mi£>ht tlius benefit the
Church by a redistribution of the Church estates. The
principle was the same as that on which the present
Ecclesiastical Commission has been estabhshed ; for its
misapphcation by Henry, Cranmer is not responsible. We
ARClIBISIIOrS OF CAXTERBUKY. I'io
have again oiilv to record the fact, that, under this act of chap.
• • HI
parhament, Cranmer ahenated to the king twelve good ^ —
manors of the See of Canterbury ; and he conveyed to crann^.er.
him the parks, and splendid residences of the archbishops, 1.533-06.
at Otford, at Knowle, and at Mayfield.
It is difficult not to suspect that by the surrender
of the - Church property the means were provided for
enabling Cranmer to settle a portion of the monastic
property upon his wife and children.
Cranmer had acquired one important quahty in a
statesman — he had a perfect command of his countenance,
and never betrayed his feelings. He was said to be
imperturbable. Certainly, under every change of circum-
stance whether of prosperity or of adversity, he was to
outward appearance the same.
To the king Cranmer w^as always acceptable as a
fi-iend, though I cannot discover, from his correspond-
ence or from any other source, that he was such a con-
stant counsellor of Henry YHI. as modern historians,
following Foxe, have represented him. Certainly, during
Crumwell's existence, Cranmer approached the king only
or chiefly through the minister ; and he did himself,
through the same channel, receive the royal commands.
It was not likely that Henry, when gambling away the
monastic property, should invite the archbishop more fre-
quently than was necessary, to a court which had become
in this respect what is not now mentioned to ears polite ;
and Crumwell was not very willing to have a rival near
the throne, especially as we know that Cranmer was not
satisfied with the way in which the confiscated property
was disposed of, and that moreover he did not sympathise
with those ribalds whom the vicar-general patronised,
and who in ridiculing popery permitted their Avit not
unfrequently to degenerate into blasphemy against Chris-
126 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tianitv. The personal feelincr of attachment to Cranmer
III *
- — .- — on tlie part of Henry was, however, no secret to the
Cranmer. courticrs. The archbishop's secretary records, that he
1533-56. heard the Lord Crumwell say one day at dinner to my
Lord Cranmer : * " You were born in a happy hour,
I suppose, for do or say what you will the king will
always take it at your hand. And I must needs confess
that in some things, I have complained of you \ but all in
vain, for he will never give credit against you, whatsoever
is laid to your charge ; but let me or any other of the
council be complained of, his grace Avill most severely
chide and fall out with us.'' f
This may seem to some persons to contradict the
statement made in the preceding paragraph ; but to my
mind the anecdote is confirmatory of the assertion there
made. It was a speech such a statesman, secure of his
superiority, might be willing to make, in flattery to one
contented to act a subordinate part, and who was satisfied
with the appearance of power witliout possessing the
reality, Cranmer was happy to be the king's friend ;
Crumwell, a keen observer of men, saw that this was
Cranmer's ambition and pride, and he knew how to apply
the harmless flattery.^
We have seen, on more than one occasion, that Cranmer
w^as accused of not keeping up the hospitality for which
his predecessors in the see of Canterbury had been cele-
* In those clavs the title of lord -was not confined to the office; it
■was attached to the person. We occasionally read of my Lord Cranmer,
my Lord Latimer, my Lord Eidle)^ In modern times, -when a bishop
resigns his see he is simply styled bishop, though still addressed as my
lord.
f Morice, 259.
\ So attached was Cranmer as a friend to Henry VIIL, that after
that king's death, he ceased to shave ; he let his beard grow as a sign
of mournins-.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBUKY. 127
bratecl. The Avorlcl indeed is difficult to please. One ch-\p.
. III.
person is sometimes blamed for doing the very thing > r^—
which has elicited men's praise for others. There had cranmer.
been an oiitciy against the bishops at the commencement 1533-56
of Henry's reign for their sumptuous living, and a sump-
tuary law was introduced by the bishops, of which we
have the following memorandum : —
" In the yere of our Lord MDXLI it was agreed and con-
descended upon, as wel by the common consent of both th'
archbishops, and most part of the bishops within this realme of
Englande, as also of divers grave men at that tyme, both
deanes and archdeacons, the fare at their tables to be thus
moderated.
" First, that th' archbishop should never escede six divers
kyndes of fleshe, or six of iishe on the fishe dayes, the bishop
not to excede five, the deane and archdeacon not above four,
and al other under that degree not above three.
" Provided also, that the archbishop might have of second
dishes four, the bishop three, and al others under the degree
of a bishop but two, as custard, tart, fritter, cheese, or apples,
peares or two of other kyndes of fruites.
" Provided also, that if any of the inferiour degree dyd receave
at their table any archbishop, bishop, deane or archdeacon; or
any of the laitie of 13'ke degree, viz. duke, marques, earle,
vicount, baron, lorde, knyght, they mj'ght have such provision
as were meete and requisite for their degrees.
" Provided alway, that no rate was hmitted in the receavyng
of any ambassadour. It was also provided, that of the greater
fyshes or fowles there should be but one in a dishe, as crane,
swan, turkey cocke, hadocke, pyke, tench ; and of lesse sortes
but two, viz. capons two, pheasants two, conies two, wodcockes
two. Of lesse sortes, as of partriches, the archbishop three, the
bishop, and other degrees under hym two. Of blackburdes the
archbishop six, the bishop four, the other degrees three. Of
larkes and snytes, and of that sort, but twelve. It was also
provided, that whatsoever is spared by the cuttyng off of the
128 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, old superfluities, shoulde j'et be provided and spent in playne
■ r-'- — ' raeates for the relievjing of the poore." *
Thomas
1533-56! ^0 unpalatable were these regulations to those, who had
been accustomed to feast at the expense of the bishops,
that soon after, an outcry was raised against them from
the opposite quarter, and they were accused of covetous-
ness. To keep hospitality and to bid all comers welcome
was still considered the duty of great men in Church and
State ; and upon this point the enemies of Cranmer
thou2;ht to establish a charoe asjainst him. Sir Thomas
Seymour, " being of the privy chamber," was employed
to bring odium upon the archbishop, by complaining
to the king that he kept no hospitahty or house corre-
spondent with his revenues or dignity. It was said, that
he sold his w^oods, and realised a large property by fines,
to enrich his family. The king was always ready to take
the part of Cranmer, and said : " I do marvel that my
Lord of Canterbury should keep no hospitality, for I have
heard the contrary." Xo notice was at first taken of the
accusation ; the king was as though he either heard not,
or heeded not the accusation. Suspecting, however, that
there was a conspiracy to undermine the archbishop in his
esteem, the king called Sir Thomas Seymour to him,
as he was going to dinner about a month afterwards, and
said, " Go ye straightways to Lambeth, and bid my Lord
of Canterbury come and speak to me at two of the
clock in the afternoon." The rest shall be stated in the
quaint language of the archbishop's secretaiy, Morice,
from whom we have the account, and through whose lan-
guage the state of the case is brought vi^'idly before us.
He says : —
* Wilkins, iii. 862. Ex. MS. C.C.C.C. etapud Hearn, Append, par.
ii. ad Lelandi Collectanea, p. 38.
ARCHBISHOPS or CAXTEliBURY. 129
Incoutynently Mr. Seymour came to Lambeth, and being CHAP.
brought into the halle by the porter, it chanuced the halle was ™^-
sett to dyner, and when he was at the skrene and perceyvid the Thomas
halle furnished with iij principal messes, besides the reste of the ,^.^7^1^'
tables thoroughlie sett, having a giltie conscience of his untrue
reporte made to the kinge, recoylid backe, and wolde have gone
into my lorde by the chapell awaie. Mr. Nevill being stewarde,
perceyving that, rose uppe and wente after hym, and declaird
unto hym that he could not goom {sic)'^ that wey ; and when he
came to my lord, and had done his message, my lord caused
hym to sit downe and dyne with hym. But, making a short
dyner bycause he would bring the kinge wourde againe of his
message, he departid and came to the kinge before he was rysen
frome the table. WTien he came to the kinge's presence, saied
the kinge, " Will my lord of Canterbury come to us ? " " He
will wayte on your majestic (saied Mr. Seymour) at ij of the
clocke." Then said the kinge, " Had m}'^ lord dyned before ye
came?" "Noo, forsothe (saied Mr. S.), for I founde hym at
dyner." " Well (saied the kinge) w^hat chere made he you ? "
With these wourdes Mr. Seymour knelid downe and besought
the kinge's majestie of pardon. "What is the matter?" (saied
the kinge). " I do remembre (saied Mr. Seymour) that I tolde
your highnes that my lorde of Canterburye kepte no hospitalitie
correspondent unto his diguitie ; and nowe I perceyve that I
did abuse your highnes with an untruth, for, besides your grace's
house, I thincke he be not in the realme of none estate or degre
that hath suche a halle furnyshed, or that fareth more honorablie
at his awne table. " Ah ! (quod the kinge), have you espied your
owne faulte nowe?" "I assuer your highnes (said Mr. S.) it
is not so moche my faulte as other mennys who semed to be
honeste men that enformede me herof, but 1 shall hensforthe
the nowisse truste theym whiles thei lyve." Then, saied the
kinge, "I knowe your purposes well enough; you have hadd
emonge you the commodities of the abbeis, whiche you have
consumed some with superfluous apparell, some at dice and
cardes, and other ungratious rule, and nowe you wolde have the
* Query. Goo iu,
VOL. Vll. K
130 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, bishopp landes and revenewes to al)use likewise. Yf my lorde
^^^' , of Canterbury kepe such a balls as you say, neither being terme
Tliomas ^qj. parliamente, he ys metelie well visited at those tymes, I"
warrante yon. And if th' other bisshopps kepe the like for
their degre, they had not nede to have anything taken from
them, but rather to be aided and holpen. And therefore set
your harte at reste ; there shall no such alteration be made
whiles I lyve" (quod the kinge). So that in ver}'- dede, where
some had pennyd certeyn bookes for the altering of that estate
in the nexte parliamente, thei durst never bring them forthe to
be redde. Whereupon also it came to passe that when the
kinge understode that, contrary unto the reporte, my lorde G.
hadd purchased no manner of landes, his highnes was contente
upon th' onelie motion of D. Buttes, \vithout my L. C. know-
ledge, that he shoulde have that abbey in Notynghamshere,
wliiche his wife noive enjoyeth, to hym and his Iteires*
Of Cranmer's munificence we have nothing to say, if
Ave institute a comparison between him and some of his
predecessors, such as Chichely, Bourchier, and Morton ;
but when we find his house the resort of the learned
foreigners who were invited to England, at a later period
of his life, it would be to make a statement contrary
to fact, if we should speak of him as failing in the rites
of hospitality. When Latimer resigned his bishopric he
was domiciled with the archbishop ; and while Cranmer
did not diminish the cliarities for which the primates of
England had for centuries been distinguished, we may
mention to his credit the fact, that when the sick and
wounded soldiers engaged in the Frencli wars landed in
Kent from Boulogne, his residence at Bekesbourne was
converted into a hospital for their reception ; and his
almoner was directed that when they were cured he
should pay their expenses until they reached their re-
spective homes.
Nevertheless, the charge of avarice was brought against
* Morice Anecdotes, 2G3.
I
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 131
liim to tlie last; and Cecil, who was accused of a similar
vice, thought he was acting the part of a friend in bring-
ing the subject under the archbishop's notice. We are
under an obligation to him for so doing, as it provoked a
reply which speaks much to the archbishop's honour.
" As for your admonition," he says, " I take it most thank-
fully, as I have ever been most glad to be admonished by my
friends, accounting no man so foolish as he that will not bear
friendly admonishments. But as for the saying of S. Paul,
' Qui volunt ditescere incidunt in tentationem,' I fear it not
half so much as I do stark beggary. For I took not half so
much care for my living when I was a scholar of Cambridge as
I do at this present. For although I have now much more
revenue, jet I have much more to do withal : and have naore
care to live now as an archbishop than I had at that time to
live like a scholar. I have not so much as I had within ten
years passed by 150?. of certain rent, beside casualities. I pay
double for everything that I buy. If a good auditor have this
account, he shall find no great surplusage to wax rich upon."*
Wliat his difficulties Avere when he was first appointed
to the see, we have had occasion already to mention ; and
the shifts to which he was subjected, in order to raise the
necessary supplies to support his establishments in dif-
ferent parts of the country, may have given rise to the
charge brought ac^ainst him of avarice. He knew the
value of money, he had a family, he was economical, and
he contended for his dues.
He gratefully received pecuniary assistance from the
Abbot of St. Augustine's, " besides Canterbury," who, m
the threatening aspect of public affairs, desired to conci-
liate the primate ; and he complained of the prior of his
own convent, when from the chapter of Canterbury he
received a sum of money less than he had been led to
* Letter ccLxxxvii. Sir TV. Hicks's MSS.
K 2
132 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, expect.* But his difficulties were to be really traced to the
- ,J ' unprincipled conduct of the king. The estates of the see
Cranmer. during the vacancy had been sequestered, and the king, as
1533-oG. sequestrator of the manors, let many of them on long
leases to his favourite courtiers : such leases were almost
tantamount to donations. Cranmer, as a man of business,
introduced the rule which in Queen Elizabeth's reign
became the law of the land, that leases of ecclesiastical
property should be limited to three hves or twenty-one
years. In other respects also, the king had appropriated
during the vacancy to liis own use what belonged to the
Church ; but in doing so he could plead the example of
his ancestors ; and Cranmer was not the man to call upon
Henry VIII. to render an account of his ste\\'ardship. He
only ventured so far as to apply through Crumwell for a
loan of a thousand pounds to be paid through the trea-
sury ; but Crumwell was too busy in filling his own coffers
from the overflowings of the public purse to press the
archbishop's suit ; and Cranmer, after a long delaj^, was
obliged to be contented with a grant of 500/. These and
similar circumstances are to be taken into consideration
before we accuse the economical primate of avarice, or
reprove him for his want of munificence.
How little interest Cranmer really had even in matters
ecclesiastical, while Crumwell lived, may indeed be
iiathered from the fact, that we possess five letters written
by him to Crumwell to obtain some small preferment for
his friend Mr. Newman, and that to his lon^ suit no atten-
tion was paid. At the same time, it is due to Cranmer
to show that he could maintain his own, and when Crum-
w^ell, who thought he could make every patron submit to
his dictation, applied imder circumstances which seemed
* Letter vi. Harl. MSS. 6U8, fo. 22. Letter Ivii. Harl. MSS. GU8,
fo. 3G.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 133
to imply a simoniacal contract to Cranmer, lie received a chap.
just rebuke. Crumwell, having persuaded the prior of ^i^i—
St. Gregory's, Canterbury, to retire from his post, requested cSnmer.
tlie archbishop to place the nomination of his successor at ijss-se.
Crumwell's disposal. There was probably a simoniacal
contract such as had already enriched the vicar-general.
The answer of the archbishop, excellent in itself, is impor-
tant as tlirowing light upon Cranmer's principles.
" Master Crumwell, as touching this behalf, or any other thing
wherein I may lawfully show you my pleasure, ye shall be as
well assured of the same, as ye would be willing to desire it of
me. But the truth is, that, in my mind, I am entirely resolved
to prefer to the same office, and all such other when the same
shall be void, some such one person as was professed in the
same house, et sic de eodeni gremio, if any such shall be found
apt and meet in the same house for it ; for as long as there may
be had some one meet for that room in the same house, I do
think it much inconvenient for many considerations to provide
a stranger to be head and ruler there. If there be none so apt
and meet in the said house for the said office as the law will
require, then I will be glad to provide the most meetest that
can be found in any other place, of the same rule, habit, and
religion, of whose sufficiency and ability I ought, if I do my
office and duty, to have good experience and knowledge myself,
afore that I will admit or prefer him; and forasmuch as I do
not know the person whom ye would prefer to this office, and to
the intent also that I may enquire of his learning, living, and
of other his good qualities, I pray you that I may be ascertained
of his name, and of the place where he doth demore ; and that
done, I will hereafter in this behalf make you such further
answer as I trust ye shall be pleased withal ; albeit the brinoer
of your letters and bearer hereof showed me, that ye did write
your said letters for him and in his favour, which thing, I assure
you, moveth me to take longer respite in this behalf. Ye do
know what ambition and desire of promotion is in men of the
Church, and what indirect means they do use, and have used, to
Cranmer
1 .333-50
134 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, obtain their purpose; which their unreasonable desires and
__^J- _^ appetites, I do trust that ye will be more read)'^ to oppress and
Thomas ' extinguish than to favour or further the same ; and I remit to
your wisdom and judgment what an unreasonable thing it is for
a man to labour for his own promotion spiritual. At Mortelake,
the 6th day of May.*
" Your own assured,
" Thomas Cantuar.
" To the Eight Worshipful and my very loving
friend Master Crumwell, of the King's
Grace's most honourable council."
Cranmer had generally a clear perception of what was
right ; and he had the moral courage to declare his
sentiments ; but whenever he was threatened he suc-
cumbed. This was the secret of the kind feeling towards
him on the part of the king. Henry liked to have
his opinions canvassed ; it was a new source of enjoyment
to him, when he found a man who would openly tell
him his mind, when he knew all the while that this same
man would, when the king's will was distinctly declared,
eat liis words and obey. His courtiers in general assented
to all he said, and promised obedience, but Henry knew
that when the time for action came, if their interests
or prejudices interfered, they would either evade their
promises, or offer impediments tending to the frustration of
the royal intentions.
By a very natural process of self-deception, Cranmer
represented to himself his natural weakness in the
light of a principle. That principle he revealed when,
in writing to Queen Mary, he asserted, that he considered
it to be his duty to " show his sovereign his mind in
things pertaining to God " and " if his representations
failed, to submit patiently, thinking himself discharged."
* CrumweH's Correspondence.
J
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUrvY. 135
For " to private subjects," he observed, " it appertainetli chap.
not to reform thino-s, but quietly to suffer what they can- — ■ —
° . ^ -^ •, , , . "^ . Thomas
not amend." * Even if we were to admit this passive Cranmer,
obedience, he forgot that the primate of all England was ^-^ss-oe
something more than a private person.
After the passing of the statute of the six articles, Cran-
mer retired from the turmoil of public life, and the years
were passed with much profit to himself. Separated
from his wife and family, lie continued his studies ; and,
assisted by his chaplain Eidley, he was, with the king's
full consent, employed in preparing for fm-ther reforma-
tions in the Church of Eno-land. Much of what was
accomplished in the reign of Edward, was planned in
that of Henry. Henry YIIL had no objection to reforms;
he desired to promote them to the last ; only he required
that they should be introduced at a proper time, not
when a violent reaction was, through the violence of
Crumwell's reign of terror, setting in, and that the prin-
ciples he had laid down for his guidance should be strictly
observed. They required that, in abolishing any ancient
practice or in restoring to its primitive simplicity any
doctrine wdiich had been b}" modern glosses obscured,
there should be no deviation from the standards of
the Church, which were Catholic. He distinguished
what was papistical — introduced by papal authority —
from what was Catholic or orthodox.
Having brought the history of Cranmer to this point,
I propose, in one distinct section, to review his theological
opinions, or to give a history of his mind. As con-
nected with this subject, and to bring all under one
head, I have reserved the consideration of certain facts
which took place in Henry's reign, and shall anticipate
* Remain?, i. 5C3.
136 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, some transactions whicli belong chronologically to the
- ,J - reign of Edward,
(>anmer. H- ^^r Crauuier's own character as a public man, it
1533-56. was a misfortune that he was appointed to the primacy,
and obliged, from his high position, to take part in public
affairs before his principles were formed. For the Church
of Eno;land this was a blessino;. Had Cranmer been a
greater man, he would, hke his contemporaries, have
founded a sect ; as it was, he was a humble instrument in
the hands of God for reformino- the Churcli. Wlien he
returned from Germany to England, and consented (I
believe him when he says most reluctanth^) to become
Archbishop of Canterbury, he was resolute in two points
only; but those were important points. He was determined
to emancipate the Church of England from all papal usur-
pation, and, at the same time, to secure for the people an
authorised version of Scripture, to be freely circulated —
to be placed in the hands of all who could read. Let
men have the Bible, and the Church would reform itself.
He had himself experienced the consolation, the joy
of the Holy Ghost, which a heart, sanctified by grace,
must always find in the perusal of those words, which
w^ere written by holy men of old as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost, for doctrine, for reproof, for in-
struction in righteousness : and, as faith is charity in
the germ, and charity is the perfection of faith, he
desired to impart to others what had brought his own
soul into communion with his God and all the sanctities
of heaven. ■
On public grounds, if the Bible is the only book
composed by miraculous inspiration, containing in it
all that man can be called upon to receive de jide^ it
must be to tliis test that every doctrine, every practice,
of the Church must be brought; every doctrine pro-
AKCIIBISHOPS OF CAXTEllBURY. 137
pounded must rest on the authority of Scripture, and chap.
Ave must indulge in no practice, which is opposed to ^ — ^ — -
those principles which Scripture lays down for our cranmer.
guidance. The Church must be judged by Scripture ; 1533-06.
this is the basis of all reform. To the law and the
testimony ; if they speak not according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them. Cranmer thought that
all men should be placed in the situation of the good
Ber^ans of old. When the Church preached to them
tliey ought to have power to search the Scriptures, to
see whether those thinn;s were so. The Church was to
act towards them as the woman of Samaria in the Gospel.
She was to preach the Gospel, the glad tidings, and
they, after the study of Scripture, might be able to say,
Now we believe, not because of thy saying ; for we have
heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Ever since the reign of Edward III. and the preaching
of John Wiclif this feeling, that the people had a rigiit
to the Scriptures, and through the Scriptures to ascertain
whether what the Church was teaching was in accor-
dance with the written word of God, had been gaining
ground. They who dreaded a revolutionary movement,
and were, at the same time, aware that the Church, as
it then existed, could not stand the test, had shifted
their ground. They no longer combated the principle,
that the people ought to have the Scripture in the
vulgar tongue ; but they attacked all existing translations,
as so full of error that they, in fact, promulgated heresy.
The weakness of tliis objection soon became apparent,
and when the principle was conceded, that the people
might possess the Scriptures, the demand was for an
authorised version — a version to be made by the Church
witli the special object of avoiding the error complained of.
138 LIVES OF THE
ciTAP. The thoughtful among the clergy johied iu this demand.
_J^^: . Few of them could read Greek. The Vulgate was only
a translation. If they were to read a translation, they
would rather have it in the vulgar tongue. For an
authorised version of Scripture they, the clergy, had
made application to the king, in the time of Archbishop
Warham ; that is to say, they desired that the king would
appoint a Commission to make a translation, or cause
it to be made, to be subjected afterwards to the two
houses of Convocation. In the first convocation under
Cranmer, that application was renewed. Upon this point
Cranmer appears always to have had a strong party
in convocation ; although the party opposed to him was
powerful, from the fact of its including some persons
of learning and influence, including Bishop Gardyner and
Bishop Bonner.
It will be expedient to pause here, that we may take
a rapid view of the versions of Scripture at this time
made, and of the attempts to introduce them into the
Church.*
Of Wichf's translation — that noble work — many copies
had been clandestinely circulated ; but it was only in
manuscript. Admirably, too, as the work, considered
as a whole, w^as executed, still it was only the translation
of a translation, and by the late labours of Erasmus, the
Vulgate had declined in repute.
We have already seen that in the reign of Henry VIII.,
before the commencement of Cranmer's primacy, attention
* The reader may be referred generally to Le-\vis's Hist, of Transla-
tions of the Bible ; Newcome's Historical View of English Biblical
Translations ; Anderson's Annals of the English Bible ; Cotton's
editions of the Bibles and parts thereof; and also to a work of extra-
ordinary labour by Mr. Fry, a Description of the Great Bible of
1539 and the six editions of Cranmer's Bible.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEEBURY. 139
liad been called to this subject. William Tyndal, assisted ^^^^'
by John Firth, and WiUiam Eoye, translated the New "^ij^'J^
Testament from the original Greek, and published it Cranmer.
anonymously, at Hamburg or Antwerp, about the year ^•^^^~^^-
152G. This is the first translation into English of
any part of the Holy Scripture that issued from the press.
It is said to have been incorrectly printed, but More
and Tunstal, through their puerile attempt to prevent
its circulation, by committing all the copies they could
purchase to the flames, enriched the publisher, and
enabled him to prepare an improved edition. With the
assistance of Liiles Coverdale, Tyndal now undertook to
prepare for the press a version of the Old Testament also.
In 1530, he published at Hamburgh a translation of the
Pentateuch, with prefaces abusive of the clergy ; and
in the following year he was able to produce a more
correct version of the New Testament. In 1531, he
published a translation into English of the prophet Jonah.
He was proceeding to the translation of the other books,
when his labours Avere brought to a cruel termination.
Having been imprisoned by the emperor, he was con-
demned by a decree made in an Assembly at Augsburg,
and died a martjTr's death at Villefort near Brussels in the
year 1536.
To Miles Coverdale, sometime Bishop of Exeter, belongs
the high praise of having presented the Church of
England with the first version of the entire Bible. It
professed to be trsnslated " out of the Douche and Latin
into English." Neither name of printer nor notice of
place where it was printed is given ; whether it was
printed at Zurich, or Frankfort, or Cologne, is doubtful.
Coverdale had assisted Tyndal, and availed himself of
his labours.
Cranmer's business was now not so mucli the translation
140 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, of the Scripture, as its circulation. The work was clone
-- . ' - - to his hand. How was he to enable the people to enjoy
Cranm'er. the trcasurc which the Church of England at length
io33-o6. obtained ? this was the question. In anticipation of the
version just mentioned, he obtained, tl lis year, a unani-
mous vote, or, at all events, a commanding majority, in
convocation, in favour of a petition to the king, requesting
him to authorise a translation of the Bible with a view to
its greater circulation.
The TOjid assent was obtained. Crumwell, anxious to
do a popular act, when his conduct with respect to the
oath of supremacy and the dissolution of the monasteries
was causing a strong feehng against him throughout the
country, put himself forward on this occasion, and so
managed affairs as to connect his name with the first
authorised edition of the translated Scriptures.
Early in the year 1536, as vicar-general or vice-
gerent in ecclesiastical matters, Crumwell issued injunc-
tions to the clergy, by the king's authority, of which the
seventh was : —
" That every parson, or proprietary of an 3^ parish church within
the realm, before August the 1st, should provide a book of the
Avhole Bible, both in Latin and in English, and lay it in the
choir, for every man that would look and read therein ; and
should discourage no man from reading an}^ part of the Bible,
either in Latin or English, but rather comfort, exhort, and
admonish every man to read it as the very Word of Grod, and
the spiritual food of man's soul."
This was a great step gained. A demand was created,
and was met at once. A folio edition of the Bible ap-
peared in 1537 from the pens of Grafton and Whit-
church, It was a revision of the Bible pubhshed by
Tyndal and Coverdale, by John Eogers, under the as-
sumed name of Matthews. A copy of this was laid
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 141
before Crumwell by the archbishop, who had not easy char
access, at that time, to the king ; with a request that the • — ,-— ^
vicegerent would obtain the king's permission for the fi'ee cranmer.
use of this version among his subjects. The royal licence iJ33-56.
was granted, and an injunction was issued in 1538,
ordering the clergy to provide, before a certain festival,
one book of the whole Bible of the laro-est volume in
England, and to set it up in some convenient pUice
within their churches — wherever their parishioners might
most commodiously resort and read it.
This created a great sensation : churches were crowded.
Here the learned few continued, hour after hour, to read
the Scriptures to attentive crowds of illiterate men and
women trying to understand what they eagerly heard.
Some aged persons, eager to avail themselves of a privilege
newly acquired, w^ere actually seen to be taking lessons in
the art of reading.
We have evidence in his correspondence of the
activity of Cranmer in this good cause, and of his atten-
tion to details. I shall present the reader with the
correspondence which took place on the occasion.
The first letter is addressed to the Eight Honourable,
and my especial good lord, my Lord Privy Seal (Crum-
well).
" My very singular good lord, after my most hearty com-
mendations, this shall be to signify unto your lordship that
Bartelett and Edward Whitechurche hath been with me, and
have, by their accounts, declared the expenses and charges of
the printing of the great Bibles, and by the advice of Bartelett
I have appointed them to be sold at 13s. id. a piece, and not
above. Howbeit, Whitechurche informeth me that your lordship
tliinketh it a more convenient price to have them sold at 10s. a
piece, which, in respect of the great charges, both of the paper
(which in very deed is substantial and good), and other great
hindrances, Whitechurche and his fellow thinketh it a small
142 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, piice. Xevertheless, tliey are right well contented to sell them
. •'-^" ^ for 10s., so that you will be so good lord unto thera as to grant
Thomas henceforth none other licence to any other printer, savins; to
Cranmer i ' o
1-533-.56 ^l^^^^j f^r the printing of the said Bible; for else they think that
they shall be greatly hindered thereby, if an}^ other should print,
they sustaining such charges as they already have done. Where-
fore I shall beseech your lordship, in consideration of their
travail in this behalf, to tender their requests ; and they have
promised me to print in the end of their Bibles the price
thereof, to the end the king's liege people shall not henceforth
be deceived of their price.
" Further, if your lordship hath known the king's pleasure
concerning the preface of the Bible, which I sent to you to
oversee, so that his Grrace doth allow the same, I pray you
that the same may be delivered imto the said Whitechurche,
imto printing, trusting that it shall both encourage many slow
readers, and also stay the rash judgments of them that read
therein. Thus our Lord have your good lordship in His blessed
tuition. At Lambeth, the 14th day of November.^
" Your own ever assured,
" T. CA^'TUAEIE^^
" To my singular good lord, my Lord Privy ScaL"
But, although contented with this version of Scripture
to meet the present exigencies of the Church, the arcli-
bishop was not satisfied with any of the translations, and
desired to have a revision made by a committee of the
convocation which might afterwards receive the synodical
consent. He determined to propose the subject, as one of
the agenda, to the convocation of Canterbury, which was
summoned to meet on the 20th of July, 1541-2.
Cranmer proceeded in his usual state and magnificence
to open the convocation. He embarked on board his
* State Papers, vol. i. pt. 2. Letter cxv. Eemains, i. 289. This
letter is placed in the State Papers in the year 1538, but Dr. Jenkyns
as.signs good reasons for supposing it to belong to 1540. The reference
to the preface proves its date to be at that time, or in 153D.
ARCHBISIIOrS OF CAXTERBUIiY. 143
barge at Lambeth, and landed at Paul's wliarf. Thence, chap.
attended by the oflScials, with his cross carried before . ™'' -
him, he proceeded on foot to St. Paul's Cathedral clanmer.
Church. The Bishop of London, Dr. Bonner, was there i.j33-56.
to receive him ; and the bishop proceeded to the high
altar, where he officiated at a mass of the Holy Ghost.
The sermon was preached, as is still the case, in Latin,
by Dr. Eichard Cox, Archdeacon of Ely, who took for
his text, " Ye are the salt of the earth." Dr. Eichard
Gwent, Archdeacon of London, was chosen prolocutor.*
Although Cranmer had been primate nearly eight
years, it was not till this convocation of 1541 that any
decided measures were adoj)ted m favom: of a reformation
of the Church. It was now decreed, that images should
be removed from churches, and that the Lord's Prayer,
the Creed, and the Decalogue, should be taught the
])eople in the vulgar tongue. A step was taken towards
a reform of the liturgy. The Use of Sanim was to be
observed in all churches with a view of producing luii-
formity, and the archbishop declared, that it was the
king's pleasure, that all mass books and breviaries in the
Church of England should be examined, and cleared of
legends of Popish saints, &c. The correction of these
books was entrusted to the Bishops of Saruni and
Ely. To this subject we shall revert when the history
of the further re\ision of the services which terminated
in the Book of Common Prayer will come under con-
sideration.
We confine ourselves, at present, to what was done
with reference to the translation of the Bible. On the 3rd
of February, the question was put by the archbishop
to the upper house whether it would be possible, without
* Fuller, iii. 196 ; transcribed by his own hand out of the Eecords
of Canterbury. "VVilkins, iii. SCO. Joyce, 40-t.
Thomas
Cranmcr
144 LIVES UF THE
CRAF. scandal to the Church, to retain the Great Bible as at that
^^- . time translated. The reference was probably to the
Bible pubhshed in 1539, called Crum well's Bible, as
1533-56. published under his auspices. It was decided by a
majority of the bishops that this Bible should not be
retained, but that it should be examined and amended,
according to that Bible which is usually read in the English
Churchy that is, Cranmer's Great Bible of 1540. Certain
prelates were then appointed to examine different portions
of Scripture. The prolocutor, and the rest of the
clergy, attended the upper house, and the archbishop
pointed out to the united synod the errors in the trans-
lation of the Old Testament.* On the 13th of February,
■ the prolocutor of the lower house exhibited the result of
their examination of the Old Testament, and gave a list
of the passages which required reconsideration. The
upper house on the same day, appointed a joint committee
to examine both the Old and the JSFew Testament. The
New Testament was committed to the Bishops of Durham,
Winchester, Hereford, Eochester, and Westminster, to-
gether with Doctors Wottou, Day, Coren, Wilson,
Leighton, May, and others of the lower house. The
Old Testament was committed to the Archbishop of
York, the Bishop of Ely, Avith Eedman, Taylor, Haynes,
Eobertson, Cocks, and others who were well versed in
the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages.
So much has been said of the ignorance of the clergy
at this period, by men more ignorant than they, that
these circumstances are worthy of notice. The majority
of convocation was so decidedly with the reforming party,
that the opposition only counselled caution and delay.
On the 17th of Februarj^the Bishop of Winchester, Dr.
* Wilkius, Cone. Mag. Brit. iii. 801.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 145
Gardyiier, prodiiced a list of one hundred words and chap.
phrases in Latin, concerning which he argued that they ■ — ,-^'
must be either retained in Latin, on account of their cranmer.
peouhar significance, or translated into English with as io33-og.
little alteration as possible. Mistranslation might lead to
the inculcation of false doctrine, and this, when a provin-
cial synod was undertaking to set forward an authorised
version, was to be avoided. The fact that some of the
words have been retained to the present day in their
Latin form, shows that the selection of words was carefully
made ; though, comparing the Bishop of Winchester's
present proceedings with other portions of his conduct
in what relates to the translation of Scripture, w^e may,
without any breach of charity, conclude that his object
w^as to perplex rather than to assist the committee.
So fully was Cranmer convinced of this and so fearful
of Gardyner's influence w^ith the convocation, where it
had always been great, that the archbishop determined
to take the matter of the translation out of the hands of
that body. He proposed to the king, and obtained the
royal consent, that the committee of translators sliould
not be ajDpointed by and out of the members of convoca-
tion, but should be selected from the two universities.
The reader has had the state of the universities at this
period, brought under his notice more than once. The
active party in both universities no-\v consisted of young
Masters of Arts, all inclined, more or less, to the new
learning. A measure which the convocation was too
slow to adopt, and which a good politician like Gardyner
might have frustrated, would be accepted with alacrity
by the universities, and it was expected that there the
work would be undertaken w^ith enthusiasm.
On the 10th of March, when the convocation was pro-
ceeding to business, the archbishop declared the kino-'s
VOL. VII. L
146 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, pleasure to be, that nothing further should be done, until
x_Ji^-l_ the version of the Old and Xew Testament had been ex-
(>anmei-. amincd for the purposes of revision by the two universities.
1533-56. The members of convocation were far more independent
than the members of parhament ; the opponents of Cran-
mer did not hesitate to remonstrate against the royal
command of which he was the bearer. They had the
best of the argument when they contended that such
business belonged not to the universities, but rather to an
ecclesiastical synod. They also showed, tliat they were
quite aware of the object in the proposed transfer of the
business ; for they attacked the universities. It was stated
that the universities had sunk considerably in public esti-
mation, that the affairs were managed by a majority of
young men, and that without maturity of judgment there
was no relying on the result. But Cranmer contented him-
self with repeating the royal mandate ; and, by his power
to prorogue the convocation when he cliose, the arch-
bishop's rule was despotic. He asserted that " he should
stick by his master's will and pleasure," and that no de-
cision should be come to in convocation until the universities
had examined the translation. The convocation perhaps
abstained from further resistance, knowing tlie uselessness
of opposing tlie king, or that if the archbishop refused to
maintain their authority, it could be done by no one else.
Cranmer's Bible continued to be used in the churches
until it was superseded by a Bible projected by Arch-
bishop Parker, and known as the Bishop's Bible. The
consequence of the present interference of Henry YHI.
was that the Church of England possessed no authorised :
version of Scripture till the reign of James I., when that
translation appeared which is still in use. ,
We have thus given the result of Cranmer's labours in |
a matter which he had much at heart, but we have not
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 147
3'et stated his principle. The Bible he held to be the word char
of God ; but the Bible was, in his opinion, not the word of ^ ^^^' .
God unless it be rightly interpreted. The Bible rightly cr^l^'^ll
interpreted is the rule ; but who is to decide what the 1533-06.
]'ight interpretation is ? This was not a difficult question
as it presented itself to Cranmer's mind, and he would
consider that there was only one way of answering it. It
must always be remembered, that Cranmer was born a
churchman, or ratlier became a churchman immediately
after his birth. As a churchman he deferred to the au-
thority of the Church, and admitted that "it has authority
ill matters of faith." He did not suppose that men were
to take their Bible, and then chalk out from it a religion
for themselves. He professed himself, to the last hour
of .his life, to be a Catholic. A certain form of relisrion
had been transmitted to him. He accepted it. There
were certain acts and doctrines done or asserted which
revolted his moral nature ; he went to his Bible, and
perceived at once, that these things formed no part of
reliijion as it came from God. the Source of revelation.
He at once removed them. Wlien the Church and the
Bible were antagonistic the one to the other, he ad-
hered to the Bible. But when it was doubtful whether a
doctrine was or was not expressed in Scripture — when,
as in all language and writings must be the case, expres-
sions were doubtfid or ambiguous, he appealed from the
present to the earl}" Church. He enquired how was the
Scripture understood before controversies arose, to which
the ambiguity is traceable ? What was the Catholic doc-
trine in the primitive ages, anterior to medi£eval corrup-
tion? He expressly declares, that he accepted the rule of
Vincentius Lirinensis, who taught plainly " that the canon
of Scripture is perfectly sufficient in itself for the truth of
the Cathohc faith ; and that the whole Church cannot add
L 2
148 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, one article of the fliith, although it may be taken as a ne-
--^ — ^ — - cessary witness for receiving and establishing the same,
Cranmer. witli tlicsc tlircc couclitions, that the thing we would
io33-c6. establish thereby hath been believed in all places, at all '
times, and of all men."*
So careful was the king, as well as the archbishop, to
warn people, that in renouncing popery they w^re not
deserting Catholicism, that they were reforming the
ancient Church of England not substitutino; for it a new
sect, that we find the following assertion of a theological
principle in an act of parliament : —
"Provided always, that this act, nor any thing or things therein
contained, shall be hereafter interpreted or expounded, that \'our
grace, your nobles, and subjects intend by the same to dechne
or vary from the congregation of Christ's Church in any things
concerning the very articles of the Cathohc faith of Christendom,
or in any other things declared by Holy Scripture and the Word
of God necessary for your and their salvations, but only to
make an ordinance by policies necessary and convenient to
repress vice, and for good conservation of this realm in peace,
unity, and tranquillity, from ravin and ppoil, insuring much the
old ancient customs of this realm in that behalf; not minding
to seek for any relief, succours, or remedies for any worldly
things and human laws, in any cause of necessity, but within
this realm at the hands of your highness, your heirs, and succes-
sors, kings of this realm, which have and ought to have an
imperial power and authority in the same, and not obliged in
any worldly causes to any other superior." f
Cranmer's conduct with respect to the doctrine of tran-
substantiation illustrates his principle. The words of Scrip-
* liemains, iii. 23. The ultramontanes, finding that what is papisti-
cal is distinguished from what is catholic, liave given up this ajDpeal
to the primitive Church and tradition, and represent the Pope as
empowered and inspired to add new doctrines to tlie Church at his will.
f Statutes at large.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 149
tiire, "This is my body, this is my blood," if taken literally,
estabhsh the position of the Papists. Cranmer therefore,
receiving the doctrine of transubstantiation as prevaihng
in the Church, and finding it confirmed by the words of io33-56.
Scripture barely considered, for a long time maintained
the dogma. When he found that it had not always been
held in the primitive Church, he then renounced it.
"Touching my doctrine of the sacrament," he said, "and
other my doctrine, of what kind soever it be, I protest that it
was never my mind to write, speak, or understand anything
contrary to the most holy Word of God, or else against the holy
Catholic Church of Christ ; but purely and simply to imitate
and teach those things only, which I had learned of the sacred
Scripture, and of the holy Catholic Church of Christ from the
beginning, and also according to the exposition of the most holy
and learned fathers and martyrs of the Church.
"And if anything hath peradventure chanced otherwise than
I thought, I may err, but heretic I cannot be, forasmuch as I
am ready in all things to follow the judgment of the most sacred
Word of God, and of the holy Cathohc Church, desiring none
other thing than meekly and gently to be taught, if anywhere
(which God forbid) I have swerved from the truth.
" And I protest and openly confess, that in all my doctrine
and preaching, both of the sacrament and of other my doctrine,
whatsoever it be, not only I mean and judge those things as the
Catholic Church and the most holy fathers of old, with one
accord, have meant and judged, but also I would gladh' use the
same words that they used, and not use any other words, but to
set my hand to all and singular their speeches, phrases, ways,
and forms of speech, which they do use in their treatises upon
the sacrament, and to keep still their interpretation. But in
this thing I only am accused for an heretic, because I allow not
the doctrine lately brought in of the sacrament, and because I
consent not to words not accustomed in Scripture, and unknown
to the ancient fathers, but newly invented and brought in by
men, and belonging to the destruction of souls, and overthrowing
of the pure and old religion."
150 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. We are emploved in traciiifr the o-rowtli of his prinrii^les
III . . ' . ^ . .
-- — r^ — - ill Cranmer's mind, and in remarking upon their influence
Cranmer. upon his conduct ; having already, therefore, touched upon
1 033-56. transubstantiation, we will now proceed to consider this
subject especially.
Before the year 1533, the pubhc attention in England was
almost excJi'^ively directed to the question of the royal
supremacy ; and Cranmer took little interest, when iie was
in Germany, in the discussion of a dogma, which he, for a
long time, regarded as of only secondary importance. It
was indeed the opinion of most of the men of the " new
learning " in England, as expressed by Tyndale, that it
was expedient to leave the Presence as an indifferent thing
to be discussed in peace, and at leisure of both parties.
But it was gradually discovered that the whole contro-
versy turned upon this fact. Protestants of all shades of
opinion were united on this one point, that the mass should
be turned into a communion. The mass was regarded as
a sacrifice of our Lord for the quick and the dead : this
the Eeformers one and all denied ; they maintained tliat
it was a commimion, through which the faithful were
united to God ; and that the sacrifice was the offering of
themselves, their souls and bodies, to God's service in com-
mon with the hosts of heaven. The controversy was per-
plexed, as it still is, by the fact, that the Peformers did not
deny that in the Eucharist there is a sacrifice ; but the
question is, what kind of sacrifice ? It is one thing to offer
Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and another thing for those
who have been accepted through Christ as God's servants,
to offer themselves as a sacrifice, a body of persons pre-
pared to serve God, in body and soul. The Church from
the bemnnino^ had reijarded the Eucharist as a sacrifice in
the last sense of the word — a memorial before God of the
great work once and once for all done upon the cross,
ARCHBlSHOrS OF CiViS'TEKBUKY. 151
and at the same time, a dedication, a Eucliaristic sacri- chap.
fice of the Church, as a whole and in all its parts, to the • — ^ —
service of God. In process of time, the Western Church, craumer.
instead of offering itself as a sacrifice on the merits of 1533-06.
the one full perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation,
and satisfaction, once and once for all, made upon the
Cross, regarded itself as offering the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself.
But if He was to be offered. He must be corporeally
present ; He could only be corporeally present by the
transmutation of the substance of the bread and wine
into the body and blood of Christ.
Viewed not from the sacrificial, but from the sacra-
mental point — not with regard to what man does to God,
but to what God does to man, there is a Eeal as distin-
guished from a Corporeal Presence. So that the worthy
recipient receives Christ, as Christ has promised in all the
sacred influences of His spiritual presence.
This was the reason why Luther adhered to the doctrine
of consubstantiation ; that is, a Eeal not a Corporeal
presence, in, under, and along with the bread and wine.
Distincfuish between the sacrifice and the sacrament,
and Ave arrive at the ground of Luther's adherence to his
system.
As regarded the sacrifice, what was offered to God
was the Church militant and triumphant, with the present
communicants and Christ its Head — not, as the Papists
contended, Christ considered as the Lamb of God. Luther
did not, therefore, require the dogma of transubstan-
tiation. ]3ut regarded as a sacrament, what is offered
to the communicant is the indwelling Saviour, and there
fore he believed our Lord to be for that purpose actually
present.*
* See "Waterland en the Eucharist, for this whole subject.
152 LIVES OF THE
riTAP. The English Eeformers did not accept Luther's view
' — ^ — ' of the manner in which our Lord is present ; that is,
Cranmcr. thirough consubstantiatiou ; they simply, and without
io33-56. explanation, asserted the fact. They did not hold
that the sacrifice consists in the offering of Christ,
therefore they did not require a belief in transubstan-
tiation ; nor, as regards the sacrament, did their system
require the Lutheran, or strictly Protestant, doctrine of
consubstantiation. Without this, they believed that Christ
can be really present to the worthy recipient. They ad-
mitted that the Lord's body is in heaven ; in like manner
as they admitted that the sun is in the firmament. As
the sun, though in the firmament, may be present on
earth by its rays, and though in one sense present
wherever there is solar light, yet may be present more
in one place than in another : so by His Spirit, Christ
the Sun of Eighteousness, though in heaven, may be
still on earth, and in one'place on earth more than in
another, in the heart of a saint more than in the soul of
the careless. In the Lutheran system, the Ees sacramenti,
as in the Eomish system, is created by the consecration :
our Eeformers considered the Ees sacramenti to depend
on consecration and on the worthy receiving : not the
receiving without the consecration, but the consecration
with the recei\'ing.
With reverence be it spoken, as reverence must be
always invoked when we compare the things of lieaven
with things earthly, when a money bill is drawn out, it
is drawn for the purpose of becoming money, though the
paper is not changed into gold ; and yet it does not acquire
its real value until it is endorsed by the person to whom
it is directed. Just so, argued the English reformers, the
bread and wine, when consecrated, are intended to be-
come, to all intents and purposes, that blessed thing
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBL'EY. 153
Avliich they represent, but siicli they do not become in fact,
until the worthy recipient has made it such to himself
by faith. He then rejoices, for that he has received his
Lord. _ 1533-56.
If we carefully examine the progress of Cranmer's mind,
we shall tind that this point he reached before he died ;
although some there are who persevere in saying that he
was never orthodox on this subject.*
The Papists saw that the controversy on the Eucharist
was not what it at first appeared to Cranmer, or as it
appears to some even at the present time, a mere meta-
physical question of no real importance. One feels
a repugnance to write the sentence, but the vulgar no-
tion was that the priest in the mass created his Eedeemer,
and then offered Him as a propitiatory sacrifice for sin.
The order of men, w^ho were endued with a power to do
this, must be superior to all civil power ; and it was now
more than ever the policy of Eome to make the civil
power subservient to the sacerdotal. This dogma was
made therefore the test to which men were to be brought,
when the question was, whether they were loyal to the
pope rather than to the crown.
It was long before Cranmer could see the subject in
this point of view : lie did not perceive how it bore, in-
directly but with great force, upon the supremacy. When
he understood this — when he saw that the Eeformers,
however much they differed on other points relating to
the Eucharist, were as one man in their rejection of the
* " And in that Catecliism I teach not, as you do, that the body and
blood of Christ is contained in the sacrament being received, but that
in the ministration thereof, we receive the body and blood of Christ ;
wherennto if it may please you to add, or understand this -word
spiritually, then is the doctrine of my Catechism sound and good in
all men's ears, -who know the true doctrine of the sacraments,"'
154 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, don-ma of transubstantiation, lie bcijaii to waver iu his
lu. ^ .
— ■ — ■ opinion.
Cranmer. Evcu after liis clesire to act witli liis party and the other
.1533-56. Eeformers with reference to the controversy, he was at a
loss for arguments to satisfy his mind. Here was the
Bible which he regarded as the book to be appealed to,
as the authority iu matters of faith, saying expressly that
our Lord spake of the bread and the wine as His Body
and Blood, and this not only at the institution of the Holy
Communion, but also in the sixth chapter of St. John.
Might anyone, to serve a special purpose, explain away the
assertions of Scripture ? This Cranmer declined to do on
his own responsibility or through reliance upon the ration-
alistic arguments of those Avriters, who, instead of asking
what has God revealed, disputed on what they called the
absurdity of the tenet. The amount of blasphemy in
which men indulged when disputing on this subject, was
revolting to a pious mind and reached such a pitch, that
the government itself at leugth found it necessary to
interfere.
But if not a few self-sufficient individuals, but the pri-
mitive Church, rejected the dogma, then Cranmer was
quite prepared to reject it too. The primitive churches
had preserved as a tradition, what the apostles had taught
when they established the churches, and this interpreta-
tion of a disputed Scripture was, therefore, to Cranmer's
mind authoritative.
It was when the archbishop was in this hesitating state
of mind that his chaplain Eidley* called his attention to a
remarkable treatise by liatramn or Bertram, which was
published in opposition to Paschasius Eadbert, who in the
* Cranmer himself says, " he did confer with me, and by sending
persuasions and authorities of ancient doctors, drew me quite from my
opinion in favour of transubstantiation." liemains, iv. 97.
AKCUBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 155
ninth century had asserted the dogma of transubstantia-
tion.* From this work, which is sometimes attributed to
Duns Scotus, he learned that if he apphed to this doctrine
the test of Vincentius Lirinensis, it had not been always
taught, it had not been everywhere received, it was not ac-
cepted by all Chiurches. Eatramnus supplied him with quo-
tations from several of the fathers, including St. Ambrose
and St. Augustine ; and Cranmer, with his usual assiduity
and accuracy, carried on the investigation. f When he stood
to be cross-questioned before the commissioners at Oxford,
he 2;ave that memorable challenize, which has been more
than once repeated: "If it can be proved by any doctor,
above a thousand years after Christ, that Christ's body is
there in the Eucharist, really (corporeally) present, I will
give all over."
The date of the archbishop's renunciation of the dogma
of transubstantiation is doubtful. J It certainly was not
before Heniy's death, because, as we shall presently see,
he celebrated mass on that occasion, at the coronation of
Edward YI,, and again, when the obsequies were celebrated
of Francis I. At all events, he could not, therefore, at that
* The history of this controversy is given in the Life of Lanfrann.
The dogma of Paschasius Radbert approached ruore nearly perhaps to
consubstantiation than to the decided assertion of transubstantiation.
Eatramn's Avork has been translated and printed, and is a production
which is instructive even to the modern reader. In my copy it commences
Incipit liber Ratramni de corpore et sanguine Domini. Bertram was a
corruption of the original name.
f There is a collection of citations on this subject in the British
Museum, and another at C.C.C.C.
I In the year 1537, in a letter to Joachin Yadianus, or Wat, he con-
demned in strong terms the errors of Zuinglius and Q^^colampadius, and
he declared that though he had read almost every modern publication
on this subject, he adhered to what he then thought the ancient faith
respecting the true presence of Christ's body in the Holy Sacrament.
Archiv. Eccles. Tigurin. clxxxvii.
15G LIVES OF THE
CHAP, time have seen the relation of this dogma with the great
. i^/j . controversy of the day. The dogma of transubstantiation
cvanmer. "^^''"is Only Wanted, when, as in the mass, it was supposed that
1533-oc. Christ, corporeally present, was ofiered for the quick and
the dead ; when Cranmer celebrated mass, this sacrifice he
offered. Logically, he required a belief in transubstantia-
tion. But he had perhaps already renounced it abstractly
as a dogma ; but did not at first perceive the end at which
the renunciation of the dogma would land him. His own
expressions relative to the date of his change of opinion
are indecisive ; he only mentions, that not long before he
pubhshed his Catechism, he was in error with respect to
the Corporeal Presence. In the Embden edition of the
Defence^ the preface of which is attributed to Sir John
Cheke, the year 1546 is mentioned, but doubtfully. It is
probable, that it was about this time that Eidley placed
in his hands the book of Eatramn, and it is not likely that
a man so slow and cautious as Cranmer would at once
commit himself.
So cautious, indeed, was Cranmer, that when, in 154:8,
he published the translation of the Catechism of Justus
Jonas — which, whether executed by himself or not, was
published as expressing his own sentiments — the Sacra-
nientarians regarded the work as a declaration against
themselves : and to the present time it is a question
whether he had advanced beyond consubstantiation.
He probably still desired, like some of the continental
reformers, to leave these as open questions.
It is observed by Mosheim, that there was at this time
a desire on the part both of Lutherans and of Sacramen-
tarians to seek an agreement in words though not in
sentiment. This may account for the doubt which is
sometimes entertained of Cranmer's orthodoxy on the
doctrine of the sacraments. If, however, Cranmer's
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 157
obiect was conciliation, he did not succeed, for Jolni chap.
... ui
Burcher, writing to Biillinger, says : — —^^ — -
Thomas
" The condition of our England is such as I can neither much I'l"™^'^-
commend or find fault with. A more sincere and pure feeling-
of religion has begun to flourish with success; but Satan,
through his hatred of this, has been endeavouring to throw
everything into confusion by means of dissension. The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, moved, no doubt, by the advice of
Peter Martyr and other Lutherans, has ordered a Catechism of
some Lutheran opinions to be translated and published in our
language. This little book has occasioned no little discord ; so
that fightings have frequently taken place among the common
people, on account of their diversity of opinion, even during
the sermons. The government, roused by this contention, have •
convoked a synod of the bishops to consult about religion.
Gfod grant they do not produce some prodigy.* So much
respecting religion."
Of the violence with which he was attacked by the
foreigners, we may give, as a specimen, the following
quotation from a letter f written by John ab Ulmis
to Bulling;er.
" I would have you know this for certain, that this Thomas has
fallen into so heavy a slumber, that we entertain but a very
cold hope that he will be aroused even by your most learned
letter. For he has lately published a Catechism, in which he
has not only approved that foul and sacrilegious transubstantia-
tion of the Papists in the Holy Supper of our Saviour, but all
the dreams of Luther seem to him sufficiently well grounded,
perspicuous, and lucid."
The attacks made upon this work, which if not trans-
lated was published by Cranmer, rendered it necessary
for him to enter into explanations, and to arouse himself
* Original Letters, Eiig. Eef. ccxcviii.
I Ibid, clxxxv.
158 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, from his letharfn% if letliartric at this time he really -svas.
111. . '" . . *"
r^ — - 111 making explanations, his own opinions, as is frequently
Cninmer. the CRse, became even to himself more clear and defined.
1533-56. jje consulted Peter Martyr and John a Lasco ; the
former probably as a Lutheran, the latter as a sacra-
mentarian. Both Peter Martjr and Martin Bucer were
regarded as the representatives of Lutheranism in England.
John Hooper, writing to BulHnger in 1549, says : —
" I hear that East Friesland has received the Interim. If this
be the case, Master a Lasco will soon return into England. I
greatly regret his absence, especially as Peter Martyr and
Eernardine so stoutly defend Lutheranism, and there is now
arrived a third (I mean Bucer), who will leave no stone un-
turned to obtain a footing. The people of England, as I hear,
all of them entertain right notions upon that subject. Should
not Master a Lasco come to us in a short time, I will send him
your letter with the writing. But, if it please God, I could v.-ish
to meet the parties in person." *
The conferences between the archbishop and Peter
Martyr concluded with the publication by the latter, of
a disputation and treatise, of which the one was written
by the archbishop's request, and the other Avas introduced
by a dedication to his Grace. Peter Martyr here modi-
lied his views as a Lutheran, but the publication did not
give satisfaction. Martin Bucer, in a letter to Bullinger,
writes thus : —
'•' I am as sorry for Master ^Martyr's book, as anyone can be ;
but that disputation took place, and the propositions were agreed
upon, before I arrived in England. At my advice be has in-
serted many things in the preface, whereby to express more
fully his belief in the presence of Christ. Among the nobility
of the kingdom those are very powerful, who would reduce the
whole of the sacred ministry into a narrow compass, and who
* Original Letters, Eng. Eef. xxx.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 159
are altogether unconcerned about the restoration of Chiu'ch
discipline. . . . While they seek to provide against our bringing
down Christ the Lord from heaven, and confining him in the
bread, and offering him to the communicants to be fed upon
without faith — a thing that none of our party ever thought of —
they themselves go so far as, without any warrant of Holy
Scripture, to confine him to a certain limited place in heaven,
and talk so vapidly about his exhibition and presence in the
Supper (nay, some of them cannot even endure these words),
that they appear to believe that nothing else but the bread and
wine is there distributed. Xo one has as yet found fault with
me for my simple view of this subject ; nor have I ever heard
of anyone who has been able to confute it from any solid
passage of Scripture, nor indeed has anyone yet ventured to
make the attempt. Their principal argument is, that the
mysteries of Christ can be well and intelligibly explained fwhich
would be true, if they would add " to faith, but not to reason").
They now assume, that it cannot with reason be supposed of
Christ that he is in heaven, without being circumscribed by
physical space ; and since he is thus in heaven, as they take for
granted, they insist, not only upon what no one will allow them,
but also, without any solid rea.son, that it cannot be understood
that the same body of Christ is in heaven and in the Supper : and
when we reply, that no one supposes a local presence of Christ
in the Supper, they again say that the body of Christ cannot be
understood to be present anywhere without being locally cir-
cumscribed. The sum, therefore, of their argument is to this
effect. Eeason does not comprehend what you teach respecting
the exhibition and presence of Christ in the Supper ; therefore
they are not true, and the Scriptures which seem to prove them
must be otherwise interpreted. Let us pray for these persons.
I have as yet met with no real Christians who were not entirely
satisfied with my simple view of the subject, as soon as it had
been properly explained to them." *
* Original Letters, Eng. Eef. cclii. Still Bucer advocated the use of
ambiguous terms, so as to create an apparent .agreement where it did not
really exist. This was the ground of his complaint.
160 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Xevertheless from tliis time the opiuious of the arch-
-^— ,-^ — - bishop were given in a more decided tone. Bartholomew
Cramner. Traheron, writing to Bullinger in 1548, says : —
io33-o6. ti Qjj ^}jQ \At\\ of December, if I mistake not, a disputation was
held at London concerning the Eucharist, in the presence of
almost all the nobility of England. The argument was sharply
contested by the bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury, con-
trary to general expectation, most openly, firmly, and learnedly
maintained your opinion upon this subject. His arguments
were as follows : — The body of Christ was taken up from us into
heaven. Christ has left the world. ' Ye have the poor always
with you, but me ye have not always,' &c. Xext followed the
Bishop of Eochester, who handled the subject with so much
eloquence, perspicuity, erudition, and power, as to stop the
mouth of that most zealous papist, the Bishop of Worcester.
The truth never obtained a more brilliant victory among us.
I perceive that it is all over with Lutheranism, now that those
who were considered its principal and almost only supporters,
have altogether come over to our side." *
All this shows how decidedly inclined to Lutlieranism
some of the leading Eeformers in England had hitherto
been, f
John ab L'lmis Amtes, still speaking not very courteously
of the arclibishop, in the same year : —
" The bishops entertain right and excellent opinions respect-
ing the Holy Supper of Jesus Christ. That abominable error and
silly opinion of a carnal eating, has been long since banished,
and entirely done away with. Even that Thomas (Cranmer)
himself, about whom I wrote to you when I was in London, by
the goodness of Grod, and the instrumentality of that most
upright and judicious man, Master John a Lasco, is in a great
measure recovered from his dangerous lethargy." \
Even Hooper was soon after inclined to take a more
impartial view of Cranmer's conduct, although he betrays
* Original Letters, Eng. Eef. clii.
f On this point, see Archbishop Laurence's Bampton Lectures.
i Original Letters, clxxxvi.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. IGl
the malevolence of a puritan mind in imputing to selfish char
and worldly motives the course suggested by prudence. -- — .^—
■VT7- • • T^ IT 1 *" " Thomas
VVritmg to i3ullmger, he says : — Cranmer.
1533-56.
"The Archbishop of Canterbury entertains right views as to
the nature of Christ's presence in the Supper, and is now very
friendly towards myself. He has some articles of religion, to
which all preachers and lecturers in divinity are required to
subscribe, or else a licence for teaching is not granted them,
and in these his sentiments respecting the Eucharist are pure
and religious, and similar to yours in Switzerland. We desire
nothing more from him than a firm and manly spirit. Like
all the other bishops in this country, he is too fearful about
what may happen to him. There are here six or seven bishops
who comprehend the doctrine of Christ, as far as relates to the
Lord's Supper, with as much clearness and piety as one could
desire, and it is only the fear for their property that prevents
them from reforming' their churches according to the rule of
God's Word. The altars are here in many churches changed
into tables. The public celebration of the Lord's Supper is
very far from the order and institution of our Lord. Although
it is administered in both kinds, yet in some places the Supper
is celebrated three times a day. Where they used heretofore
to celebrate in the morning the mass of the apostles, they
now have the communion of the apostles ; where they had the
viass of the blessed Virgin, they now have the communion,
which they call the communion of the blessed Virgin ; where
they had the principal, or high mass, they now have, as they
call it, the high communion. They still retain their vestments
and candles before the altars ; in the churches they always
chant the hours and other hymns relating to the Lord's Supper,
but in their own language. And that popery may not be lost,
the mass-priests, although they are compelled to discontinue
the use of the Latin language, yet most carefully observe the
same tone and manner of chanting to which they were heretofore
accustomed in the papacy.*
* Original Letters, xxxvi.
VOL. Vll. M
1G2 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. The bishops of whom he thus uncliaritably speaks —
> — -.-^ — - because, while wilhng to reform the Church, they were
Cranmer. uiiwilhug to clcstroj and rcphice it by a Protestant sect —
,io33-o6. were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Cranmer; the
Bishop of Rochester, Dr. Eidley ; the Bishop of Ely, Dr.
Goodrich ; the Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Farrar ; tlie
Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Holbeach ; the Bishop of Bath, Dr.
Barlow.
In the year 1550, all doubts Avere removed as to the
opinions of the archbishop by the publication of his " De-
fence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament
of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ." It was
pubhshed, as he liimself tells us, " to the intent that it
might hereafter neither of the one party be contemned or
lightly esteemed, nor of the other party be abused to any
other purpose than Christ himself did first ordain and
appoint the same."*
The work is divided into five books, in one of which
he expounds wliat he regards as the true doctrine of the
Holy Sacrament, in the other he refutes the arguments of
his opponents, contending against transubstantiation, the
Corporeal Presence of our Lord, the eating and drinking
of Christ by the wicked, and the Propitiatory Sacrifice of
the Mass.
He rejected the notion of the Corporeal Presence, that
he might refute the doctrine of a Propitiatory Sacrifice ;
the notion of a Propitiatory Sacrifice liaving, during the
last seven hundred years, superseded the idea of that
Spiritual Sacrifice which consists of a presentation to
God of the Church, militant and triumphant, to do God's
will. But though he rejected the Corporeal Presence, the
Real Presence he strongly asserts.
" That the cup is a communion of Christ's blood that was shed
* Kemains, ii. 289.
ARCHBISHOPS OF COTEREURY. IGo
for u?:, and the bread is a communion of His flesli that was CHAP,
crucified for us ; so that, although in the truth of His human . / . .
nature Christ be in heaven, and sitteth at the riorht hand of Grod Thc)™^^
' _ Oranmer.
the Father, yet whoever eateth of that bread in the Supper of i533_55_
the Lord, according to Christ's institution and ordinance, is
assured, of Christ's own promise and testament, that he is a
member of His bodv, and receiveth the benefits of His passion
which He suffered for us on the cross."
In tliis work we look in vain for any display of genius ;
siicli is not to be found in any of Cranmer's writings.
The author does not come before us as an original
thinker ; but he evinces throughout the clearness of his
mind, its logical precision, and a sound judgment in the
selection of his authorities. This work, coming from such
a quarter, made a profound impression upon the public
mind, and provoked repUes from Dr. Smyth and Bishop
Gardyner. The replies are not deserving of that sweeping
condemnation which has been poured upon them by party
writers ; and the archbishop felt himself called upon to
publish an answer both for the cause of truth and for his
own vindication. Perhaps there does not exist a better
specimen of controversial fairness than the answer to
Gardyner published by Cranmer ; but, as we have already
touched upon the controversy, it is not necessary to enter
on it any further. Another reply Vv'as published by
Gardyner under a fictitious name and in Latin. To this
Cranmer was preparing a rejoinder, when, by the death
of Edward VL, the reformers of England were called
upon to serve their Divine master by endurance rather
than by action.
In giving the history of Cranmer's mind, we must notice
the charge which is sometimes brought against him of
Erastianism. Here, however, we must bear in mind the
fact that he began life, as he ended it, a churchman : liis
164
LIVES OB^ THE
CH.IP.
III.
Thomas
CranmpF.
1033-56.
object was to reform the Church ; but his mind was formed
on the prmciples of the age, and he had never heard the
doctrine of the apostohcal succession assailed. He "was a
party assenting to the ancient ordinal, in the revision of
■which he assisted. That preface commences thus : " It is
evident to aU men dihgently reading the Holy Scripture
and the ancient authors that, from the apostles' time,
there have been three orders of ministers in Christ's
Church, bishops, priests, and deacons."
We will consider what would be the meaning of these
words at the time when the committee was appointed to
revise the ancient ordinal of the Church of England. At
that time, as in the time of " the ancient authors," a
bishop was a minister of God not of man, who was di.s-
tinguished from priests or presbyters and deacons, by
having the sole rig:ht to ordain or send new ministers into
tlie vineyard of the Church. The word bishop had no
other meaning ; it was held that as the Lord Jesus Christ
was sent by the Father, so the Lord Jesus sent the apostles ;
as the Lord Jesus sent the apostles to be his ministers and
to govern his Church, so the apostles sent the first race
of bishops ; thus the first race of bishops ordained their
successors, and so down to the present time ; the exist-
ing bishops going back from generation to generation,
thus trace their succession from the apostles. So careful
has the Church ever been on this subject, that although
consecration by one bishop is valid.) no consecration is
cano7iical unless it be administered by three at least.
This doctrine is asserted in the "Listitution of a Christian
Man," a work which received full synodical sanction, and
was subscribed by both of the archbishops in 1537.*
Cranmer at that time held, " that Christ and his apostles
* Formularies ol' Faith, 101.
ARCIlBISHOrS OF CANTEEBURY. 165
did institute and ordain in the New Testament, besides the *^^-^'
civil powers and governance of kings and princes, that -— — - — --
there should also be continually in the Church militant Cranmer.
certain other ministers and officers, who should have i^33-o6.
special power, authority, and commission under Christ to
preach and teach the Word of God to His people, to dis-
pense and administer the Sacraments of God unto them,
and by the same to confer and give the graces of the
Holy Ghost."
It is further stated, " this office, this power, this autho-
rity was committed and given by ChrivSt and his apostles
to certain persons only; that is to say, to priests or
bishops, whom they did elect, call, and admit thereunto
by their prayer and imposition of hands."*
In the " Xecessaiy Doctrine," or the king's book, printed
first in 1543, we find the opinion of the king in con-
currence with that of convocation ; for it is expressly
stated that : —
" Order is a gift or grace of ministration in Christ's Church,
given of God to Christian men, by the consecration and im-
position of the bishop's hands upon them ; and this sacrament
was conferred and given by the apostles, as it appeareth in
the Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy, whereby it appeareth that
St. Paul did consecrate and order priests and bishops by the
imposition of his hands. And as the apostles themselves, in
the beginning of the Church, did order priests and bishops, so
they appointed and willed the other bishops after them to do
the like, as St. Paul manifestly sheweth in his Epistle to Titus,
saying thus: 'For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou
shouldest ordain priests in every city, according as I have
appointed thee.' And to Timothy he saith, ' See that thou be
not hasty to put thy hands upon any man.' " f
Both convocation and the archbishop were very
* Formularies of Faith, 104.
f Formularies of Faith in the Eeign of Hcmy VIIL, p. 276.
1G6 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, careful to guard against any misrepresentation of their
— .- — • doctrine upon tliis topic. After tlie assertion, as against
Craumer. tlic pope, of the Supremacy of the crown, and of the duty
1533-56. of tlie civil power to see, that the bishops and clergy
do execute truly and faithfully " the power, office, and
jurisdiction conferred upon them by God, according to
all points as it was given them by Christ and his apostles,"
it is added : —
" We may not think that it doth appertain imto the office of
kings and princes to preach and teach, to administer the sacra-
ments, to absolve, to excommunicate, and such other things
belonging to the office and administration of bishops and priests,
but we must think and beheve that God hath constituted and
made Christian kings and princes to be as the chief heads and
overlookers over the said priests and bishops, to cause them to
administer their office and power committed unto them purel}^
and sincerely, and in case they shall be negligent in any part
thereof, to cause them to supply and lepair the same again." *
To the articles and other documents of the Church,
■wicked men have occasionally — to share in its emoluments
. — attached their signature, while denying the truths which
these documents express ; we can show, however, that
Cranmer is not to be numbered among these, for in one
of his latest works, the translation of the Catechism of
Justus Jonas, he would have even children to be taught
that : —
" After Christ's ascension, the apostles gave authority to other
godly and holy men to minister God's Word, and chiefly in those
places where there were Christian men already, which lacked
preachers, and the apostles themselves could not longer abide
with them. For the apostles did walk abroad into divers parts
of the world, and did study to plant the Gospel in many places.
Wherefore where they found godly men and meet to preach
* Formularies of Faith, 121.
ARCHBISIIOrS OF CANTERBURY. 1G7
God's Word, they laid their hands upon them and gave them CHAP.
the Holy Ghost, as they themselves received of Christ the same , ^^^- _
Holy Ghost, to execute this office. And they that were so Thomas
ordained, were in deed, and also were called, the ministers of ^^^g^^g*
God, as the apostles themselves were, as Paul saith unto Timothy.
And so the ministration of God's Word (which our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself did first institute) was derived from the apostles
unto other after them, by imposition, of hands and giving the
Holy Ghost, from the apostles' time to our days. And this was
the consecration, orders, and unction of the apostles, whereby
they at the beginning made bishops and priests ; and this shall
continue in the Church, even to the world's end. And what-
soever rite or ceremony hath been added more than this, coraeth
of man's ordinance and policy, and is not commanded by God's
Word." *
These were the dehberate opinions of Archbishop
Cranmer ; and knowing this to be the case, we must
make the due allowance, w^hen, in the heat of controversy,
he occasionally was hurried into assertions not always
in keeping with what we know to have been his deliberate
judgment. We are not attempting to defend a man,
who was too often mconsistent while feeling his way to
the truth, but we desire to ascertain what were the
principles into which he subsided. The inconsistencies of
Cranmer are not to be denied ; but if we look upon them
impartially and regard him, not as a Protestant of the
modern type, but as a Catholic labouring to reform the
Church, we must admit that his inconsistencies were not
so glaring as they are sometimes represented to be.
At the present time, the Lord High Chancellor is
appointed, and may be removed, by the Sovereign. But
before his appointment to that post by the crown, he was
a man called to the bar by an authority independent
of the crown. The king can make a Lord Chancellor,
* Sermon on the Authority of the Keys, 19fi.
1G8 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, but he cannot make a lawyer : and thoug-li lie can nominate
ui . " .
> — .J — - to the chancellorship, yet, by the practice of the constitu-
Thomas ,• i • • • i i
Cranmer. tion, his nommation must rest upon some one who has
1533-56. been previously made a lawyer.
What Cranmer contended for was, — the right of the
king, Avhen his supremacy was conceded, to act with
respect to bishops as he did witli respect to his other
ministers. The king did not make the bishops, but he
might appoint any man, being a bishop, to preside over a
diocese in his king;dom, and at his discretion he misfht
remove him. The person removed woidd still be a bishop ;
but he w^ould be — as such bishops were then seen in the
bishops in partibus, and as they are seen now in retired
colonial bishops — a bishop without a see. That the dis-
tinction was clearly understood is seen at once by the fact,
that Bishop Coverdale officiated at Archbishop Parker's
consecration, though Bishop Coverdale had been deprived
of his see ; he had ceased to be a diocesan, but not a
bishop.
Both Henry and Cranmer in the application of this
principle often acted despotically, but it does not prove
that Cranmer by being its advocate was of necessity or
consciously an Erastian. The judges in our courts of law
were, at one time, removable at the will of the Sovereign ;
and the mischief was so great, that the legislature inter-
fered, and the lawyers appointed to judicial situations by
the crown are now irremovable ; so it has been with
reference to our diocesans, but even now a diocesan may
resign and subside into a simple bishop.
We should be more correct, were the anachronism
allowable, if we speak of Cranmer as an ultra-tory. He
was one of those who pushed the prerogative so far that at
last it became an intolerable burden, and ultimately led
to the temporary suspension of the kingly government.
AKCIIBlSHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 160
He was the first arclibishop who ventured to affirm that chap.
Ill
the king held his crown of hereditary right, without the ■ — ^ —
consent of tlie people or of the Church. In former times, cranm'er.
hereditary right was claimed ; but there was a power 1533-06.
to set aside a particular person in favour of the next in
succession, or some other member of the royal family.
This had been done througliout the Xorman djmasty.
The mischievous effects were sufficiently visible, and we
readily acquiesce in the doctrine of hereditary right as
the general rule : but even in Hemy Yin.'s reign the
king and parliament assumed the right of regulating the
succession to the crown ; and perhaps it was from some
fear lest Mary should dispute the crown with Edward,
that Craumer went out of his way, at the coronation of
that young king, to set aside what had hitherto been the
law of the land. The eldest son of a king departed,
had claimed the crown, demanding of the people their
homage ; this they might render or refuse at the corona-
tion ; when the claim had been admitted, the archbishop
or his deputy proceeded to consecrate the sovereign by
anointing him. The form is still observed in our church's
order for the coronation of a sovereign, but has become,
like the conge d'elire in the appointment of a bishop, a
form, and nothing else.
When Cranmer determined to advocate the royal
supremacy in opposition to the papal, he had not pre-
viously determined in his mind the amount of power
which this conveyed to the prince. He took only a
negative vie^v of the subject : the papal supremacy was
to be renounced ; upon this point he was clear and firm.
But he had not considered how far the royal supremacy
was to extend, and this occasionally involved him in
difficulties and in some of the inconsistencies to which
we have alluded.
1 / 0 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. It is to this that Ave are to attribute the usurpation, as
III • • •
/. — we may call it, of Crumwell, When that unprincipled
Cranmer. i^'^i^ was at th.e head of affairs, he sought to carry liis ob-
1533-56. jects by exalting the powers of the supremacy on the one
side, and encourao:incr the extreme views of Protestants
"on the other side, including; under that desisjnation all
the free-thinkers and the most unprincipled of those who
were disturbing the public peace.
The convocation had conceded, as we have had occasion
before to remark, the title of Supreme Head of the Church
of England to Henry VHI., so far as the law of God
permitted ; and when this was corroborated by Parlia-
ment in 1534, an explanatory document was added, stating
that, in conceding this title to the king, no new authority
was given hhn, but that the Church and State only
lecognised his possession of such power " as to a king of
right appertaineth, by the law of God, and not that he
should take any spiritual power from spiritual ministers
that is given to them by the Gospel." *
It was all along maintained, that King Henry only
claimed the authority and power which had always been
inherent in the kingly office, although it had not been
always maintained by his ancestors.
Nevertheless, this question was open to misunderstanding
and abuse. The opinion of Henry VIII., to which Cranmer
humbly deferred was, on this matter, not always uniform.
When he had no particular object in view, his clear
understanding enabled him to perceive how for the
supremacy was to extend ; but lie permitted his authority
to be stretched beyond its due limits when, exercising
* In the introductory chapter it is shown that Queen Elizabeth, as
■well as Queen ^lary, repudiated the title, Avhich has never subsequently
attached to the Crown of Endand.
AKCIIBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 171
it to suppress the monasteries, Crumwell promised to cn.ip,
I'eplenisli his treasury, and to give free scope to his -. — r^ — '
, -■ . . . Thomas
gambhng propensities. . Cianmer.
Crum well's argument was this : — The royal supremacy io33-56.
invests the king with the powers hitherto exercised by
the pope. The pope, when he desired to correct any
abuse, or to enforce any special object, vwould appoint
a legate, with plenary powers to represent the pope
and to act in his name. Therefore the king might do
the same. He might from time to time appoint a legate.
Although the papal legate a latere^ while generally a
cardinal, was sometimes a deacon and might be a layman,
he, in the execution of his office, superseded, for the
time being, all metropolitans, and had precedence of arch-
bishops. Crumwell caused himself to be appointed vicar-
general, or, as he preferred being called, vicegerent, and
he assumed the functions, precedence, and authority of
a legate. The title and office were anomalous, and
were never, after Crumwell's death, renewed.
Archbishop Cranmer supinely acquiesced in the ar-
rangement, as a temporary measure.
But although the legatine office thus conferred upon
Crumwell answered its real purpose, that of suppressing
the monasteries, and of diverting the property into the
king's treasury and his own, it presented an impediment
to the progress of the Eeformation : of this the archbishop
liad experience in what occurred in the Convocation of
1536.
The convocation met on the last day of June in that
year. The Bishop of AYorcester, Dr. Latimer,* was
* Hugh Latimer had been consecrated on the 26th of September, 1535,
by the primate, Dr. Cranmer ; by the Bishop of "Winchester, Dr. Stephen
Gardyner ; and the Bishop of Sarum, Dr. Nicholas Shaxton. As the
172 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, appointed to preach the sermon. The Arclibishop
> — X — - admitted Mr. Gwent into the office of prolocutor, to which
Cranmer. ^^G had bccn clectcd by the lower liouso. Crumwell
1.333-56. insulted the convocation by sending a certain William
Petre to represent him, and, in the name of the vicar-
general, to challenge for himself the first place in the
synod. It was bad enough for the king to appoint
Crumwell as his representative, but the representative of
a representative w^as more than the convocation could
stand, and the feelings of indignation were such, that
at the second session Crumwell himself appeared. In
this convocation, parties were pretty evenly balanced
in point of talent, as well as of numbers ; and in politics
they were united. The " new learning " party, as it
w^as called, was headed by the primate, Dr. Cranmer ;
the Bishop of Ely, Dr. Goodrich ; the Bishop of Sarum,
Dr. Shaxton ; the Bishop of Worcester, Dr. Latimer ; tlie
Bishop of Hereford, Dr. Fox ; the Bishop of Eochester,
Dr. Hilsey ; and the Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Barlow.
The " old learning " party was led by the Archbishop
of York, Dr. Lee ; the Bishop of London, Dr. Stokesley ;
the Bishop of Durham, Dr. Tonstal ; the Bishop of
Winchester, Dr. Gardyner ; the Bishop of Lincoln, Dr.
Longland ; the Bishop of Chichester, Dr. Sherborne ; the
Bishop of Carlisle, Dr. Kite.
They were all men of competent learning, and, as far
as we know, they all of them sustained a high character
for morality and religion.
They were united all by one great principle, a deter-
mination to uphold the ro3'al supremacy against the
pope ; and it must not be forgotten that Cranmer and
bishop to be consecrated generally selects the prelates who are to assist
the primate, it would appear that Gardyner and Latimer were at this
time on friendly terms.
ARCHBISHOPS OF C.VXTERBUUV. 173
liis party were, at this time, as ready to burn men for ch.ajp.
denying the dogma of transubstantiation, as were Gardyner • — r^ — -
or any bishop on tlie " old learning " side. The " old cvanmer.
learning '' party, alarmed by the excesses which Crumwell io33-56.
had encouraged, were under the iniluence of reactionary
feelings ; and they desu'ed no further changes in the
Cliurch of England, than those which the renunciation
of the papal supremacy rendered absolutely necessary.
The " new learning " party were desirous of correcting
all abuses, and of testing the received doctrines which
had been assailed by the Lutherans, through an appeal to
Scripture.
The first party movement took place in the fourth
session, June 20, when the prolocutor presented to the
upper house a list of erroneous opinions commonly
preached in the province of Canterbury.
The preamble to the presentation contained an ample
declaration of loyalty to the king, and of a determination
on the part of the house, that " they rainded in no wise
by any colorable fashion to recognise privily or apertly
the Bishop of Eome or his usurped authority, w^hose
inventions, rites, abuses, ordinances, and fashions were
to be for ever renounced, forsaken, extinguished, and
abolished." The erroneous opinions are then reduced to
sixty-seven articles. Complaint is justly made of that
amount of irreverence to which we have before adverted,
and then in denouncing the errors, there is such a strano-e
jumble of truth and falsehood, that it is clearly shown
that the new learning party required a leader, such as
Cranmer at this time, certainly was not, and perhaps ou^ht
not ever to have become.
Complaint was also made that certain books which had
been examined by a committee of convocation and were
pronounced by it to be full of heresy and heterodoxy, had
174 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, nevertheless not been expressly condemned by the upper
' — ^ — ' house, and were still in circulation.*
Cranmer. The ucxt movement was on the part of the men of the
1533-56. "new learning." The protestation just received gave
proof that no peace could be expected in the Church,
unless some standard formulary should be adopted which
would at least be as a polar star for the guidance of those
who were now tossed about by every strange wind of
doctrine. On the 11th of July, the Bishop of Hereford
submitted to the upper house a book of articles, as it
was called, or a rough draft of certain articles of faith,
for which he solicited the ratification of the synod. f
On this occasion Cranmer spoke, and we possess his
speech. On the remonstrance of the lower house
it appears that sundry warm debates had arisen. To
these discussions the archbishop, as president of the
convocation, adverts, and describes such " babbling and
brawlinsj" as unbecomino; in men of learning; and
gravity. He reminded his brethren that " the contro-
versies now moved and put forth had not reference to
ceremonies and light thinos, but to the understanding
and the right difference between the law and the gospel.
They had to consider questions relating to the way and
manner in which sins are to be forgiven, to the com-
forting of doubtful and Avavering consciences, and by
what means they may be certified that they please God,
seeing they feel the strength of the law accusing them of
sin ; of the true use of the sacraments, whether the out-
ward work of them doth justify man, or Avhether we re-
ceive our justification by faith. Item, which be the good
v\^orks, and the true service and honour which pleaseth
God ; and whether the choice of meats, the difference of
* Collier, iv. 3-41. f Wilkins, iii. 803.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. io
garments, the vows of monks and priests, and other tra- ch.\p.
ditions which have no word of God to confirm them, - — ,^— -
whether these, I say, be right good works, and such as ci-iinmer.
make a perfect Christian man or no ? Item, whether vain io33-5g.
service and false honoiirino; of God and man's traditions
do bind men's consciences or no ? Finally, whether the
ceremony of confirmation, of orders, and of annealing, and
such other (which cannot be proved to be institute of
Christ, nor have any word in them to certify us of
remission of sins), ought to be called sacraments, and to
be compared with Baptism and the Supper of the Lord
or no ? " *
He concluded with exhorting them to the serious con-
sideration of these things. The articles submitted to con-
vocation, familiarly known as the Articles of 1536, refer
to — I. The Creeds ; II. Baptism ; HI. Penance ; IV. The
Sacrament of the Altar ; V. Justification ; YI. Images ;
YII. Honouring Saints ; YIIL Prayers to Saints ; IX.
Eites and Ceremonies ; X. Purgatory.
The king was desirous to have something definite to
produce on the authority of the Church, to pacify the in-
surgents in the north of England. That the articles were
the production of the king is sometimes affirmed, but such
statement is not corroborated by the introduction prefixed
to them, and is contradicted by the fact, that he desired
that copies of them should be dispersed among the insur-
gents, that the clergy and others in the north " might
understand that it was a proper act of the Church, and not
an innovation of the king and a few of his counsellors." f
That the formulary was revised by the king before it
was submitted to convocation is probable, as scarcely any
public document appeared, before it had been shaped to
his wishes by his revision thereof. In the preface he
* Eemaius, ii. 17. f Sti-ype, 40.
176 LIVES OF THE
cnxp. speaks of having in liis own person many times taken.
> — r-^ — - great pain, study, labom% and travail on these subjects.
Cmnraer. That it was revised by the archbishop also is proved
i533-5fi. by a draft for the articles on images, and on prayers to
saints, with the corrections of Ai'chbishop Cranmer and
of Bishop Tunstall, still preserved at Lambeth.
This formulary was pubhshed under the title of "Articles
devised by the kinge's highnes majestic, to stablyshe
Christen quietnes and unitie amonge us, and to avoj'de
contentious opinions : whicli articles be also approved by
the consent and determination of the hole clerme of this
o
realme, anno mdxxxvi."
When we are tracing the progress of Cranmer's mind,
this work is of considerable importance. It shows us how
little advanced on the side of reformation the archbishop
and the men of the new learning at that time were.
The political object of the king himself oozes out in
the preface. The excesses and licentiousness encouraged
by Crumwell, and which were now exposing the king to
censure and the kingdom to disturbance, had provoked
an insurrection in the north of England and the kino-
desired to calm the storm which had been raised. The
king, having perceived that it was his duty to remove
all occasion of dissent and discord from his subjects in the
matter of religion, declared that he had, in his own person,
taken great pain, study, labour, and travail in this cause;
and not only this, "we also," he continues, "have caused
our bishops, and other the most discreet and best learned
men of our clergy of this our whole realm, to be assem-
bled in our convocation, for tlie full debatement and
quiet determination of the same. Where, after long and
matui'e deliberation, and disputations had of and upon
the premises, finally they have concluded and agreed upon
the most special points and articles, as well such as be
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 177
commanded of God, and are necessary to our salvation, as chap.
also divers other matters touching the honest ceremonies - — ^^—^
and good and politic orders, as is aforesaid, which their cranm'er.
determination, debatement and agreement, for so much as 1533-06.
we think to have proceeded of a good, right and true
judgment, and to be agreeable to the laws and ordinances
of God, and much profitable for the establishment of that
charitable concord and unity in our Church of England,
which we most desire, we have caused the same to be
published, willing, requiring and commanding you to
accept, repute, and take them accordingly."*
With reference to the " Principal articles concerning-
our Faith," the document insists on the acceptance of the
three creeds, of which a short abstract is given ; and
ordains that all " bishops and preachers " ought and must
utterly refuse and condemn all those opinions contrary to
the said articles, which were of long time past condemned
in the four holy councils, that is to say, in the council of
Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedonense, and
all other sith that time in any point consonant to the
same."
The necessity of baptism and of infant baptism is
affirmed. In regard to penance, it is said, " we will that
all bishops and preachers shall instruct and teach our
people committed by us to their spiritual charge, that they
ought and must certainly believe that the words of ab-
solution pronounced by the priest, be spoken by authority
given to him by Christ in the Gospel."
In the article of the sacrament of the altar the Cor-
poreal presence is without qualification maintained.
Justification is made to depend upon contrition joined
with faith and charity. The use of images was allowed
" to the intent, the rude people should not from henceforth
take such superstition, as in time past it is thought that
VOL. VII. N
178 LIVES OF THE
CTiAP. the same bath used to do ; we. will that our bishops and
,_: l)ieachers diligently shall teach them, and according to
cSnmer. ^^^^^ doctrine reform their abuses, for else there might
1533-oG. fortune idolatry to ensue, "which God forbid. And as for
censing of them, and kneeling and offering unto them,
Avith other like Avorshippings, although the same hath
entered by devotion, and fallen to custom ; yet the people
oua;ht to be dilisrently tausht that thev in nowise do it,
nor think it meet to be done to the same images, but only
to be done to God, and in His honour, although it be
done before the images, whether it be of Christ, of the
cross, of our lady, or of any other saint beside." *
Saints were to be honoured, and prayer to them was
]:)ermitted. The article on rites and ceremonies is in-
terestinix, as showino- the observances of the Church at
that period.
" As concerning the rites and ceremonies of Christ's church, as
to have snch vestments in doing God's service, as be and have
been most part used, as sprinkling of holy water to put us in
remembrance of our baptism, and the blood of Christ sprinkled
for our redemption upon the cross ; giving of hoh^ bread to put
us in remembrance of the sacrament of the altar, that all
Christian men be one body mystical of Christ, as the bread is
made of many grains, and yet but one loaf, and to put us in
remembrance of the receiving of the holy sacrament and body
of Christ, the which we ought to receive in right charity ; which
in the beginning of Christ's church, men did more often receive
than they use nowadays to do ; bearing of candles on Candlemas
Day, in memory of Christ the spiritual light, of whom Simeon
did prophecy, as is read in the church that day ; giving of ashes
on Ash Wednesday, to put in remembrance every Christian man
in the beginning of Lent and penance, that he is but ashes
and earth, and thereto shall return ; which is right necessary
to be uttered from henceforth in our mother tongue always on
* Formularies of Faith, xxviii.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 179
the same day; bearing of palms on Palm Sunday, in memory CHAP.
of the receiving of Christ into Jerusalem, a little before his „ ,
death, that we may have the same desire to receive him into Thomas
. Ill Cranmer.
our hearts ; creepmg to the cross, and humbling ourselves to i[,^z-o6
Christ on Good Friday before the cross, and there offering unto
Christ before the same, and kissing of it in memory of our
redemption by Christ made upon the cross; setting up the
sepulture of Christ, Whose body after His death was buried ; the
hallowing of the font, and other like exorcisnas and benedictions
by the ministers of Christ's church ; and all other like laudable
customs, rites, and ceremonies be not to be contemned and cast
away, but to be used and continued as things good and laudable,
to put us in remembrance of those spiritual things that they
do signif}^; not suffering them to be forgot, or to be put in
oblivion, but renewing them in our memories from time to
time. But none of these ceremonies have power to remit sin,
but only to stir and lift up our minds unto Grod, by whom only
our sins be forgiven." *
Purgatory and prayers for the dead were allowed.
Such was the formulary which was signed by Crumwell
as the king's representative or legate ; and not only by
the Archbishop of Canterbury but also by the Archbishop
of York. It is well known that on certain important
occasions the northern prelates appeared in the convoca-
tion of the southern province.
So far had Cranmer's opinions advanced in 1536.
The convocation consisted of practical men, rather than
of men determined to carry some favourite theoretical
scheme. It was clear from the articles that the men of
the " new learning " were wilhng to make as much con-
cession as they could to the opposition, and the men of
the " old learning " now gave way when a motion was
made on the opposite side of the House to abohsh many
* Formularies of Faith, xxxi.
N 2
180 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, of those Church festivals which had been the cause of
' — .- — ' idleness.
Cranmer. Thc fcast of dedication of churches was ordered to be
1533-56. l^ept on the first Sunday in October and on no other day.
The feast of the patron of any Church, commonly called
the wake, was to be a day of business. All feasts falling in
harvest time or term time, were also made days of business.
The festivals of the Apostles and of the Virgin Mary and
all those festivals in which the judges do not usually sit at
Westminster were excepted. Priests and clerks, regular
and secular, w^ere, however, allowed to perform the accus-
tomed services in the Church, provided they did not do it
in a solemn manner, or compel others to attend. It is re-
markable that this was evidently a point insisted upon by
Cranmer, and not by the crown, for Cranmer, through
Crumwell, on one occasion remonstrated with Henry that
the repealed festivals were observed at court. This is the
more unaccountable as the non-observance of the festivals,
and other determinations of the synod were afterwards
published by Crumwell as royal injunctions. A prac-
tical question was also put to the convocation on the 20th
of July ; and this was, whether the king lay under any
obligation to attend the council lately summoned by the
pope to meet at Mantua. The determination was signified
to the king in an instrument which set forth the advant-
ao"es resultino; from 2;eneral councils, but which at the same
same denied the right of the pope or of any one prince
to convoke such a synod. It could only be called by tlie
consent of all the princes in Christendom. This important
subject appears to have been brought frequently before this
assembly and to have been discussed in the Privy Council.
There is a speech attributed to Cranmer relating to general
councils, of which Burnet gives an outline. There are
indications of some modern touches by the hand of the
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 181
reporter, but from this speech it would appear that, chap.
ahhough Cranmer was not very clear on the subject, he saw >_ — ^— '
that the authority of the first general councils rested on the cranmer.
fact, not of their defining the faith, but upon that of the 1533-06.
bishops having, at the emperor's call, assembled to bear
^vituess of the tradition they had received. Later councils
had taken upon themselves to define articles of faith, which
was a useless labour, since for articles of faith w^e should
go to the scriptures.* Whether this speech was delivered
at this time, or when, or where, it is impossible to say.
Cranmer was a dihgent student, and during the next
two years his mind advanced considerably, ^yhether by
his advice or not, a synod consisting of a union of the
two convocations of Canterbury and York was convened
to meet in 1537. The king had been both annoyed and
alarmed by the disturbances in the North, and probably
summoned the Northern metropolitan and his suffragans to
meet in London, in order that the people in the North of
England might perceive that his ecclesiastical policy met
with the sanction of the entire Church of England. By the
right of his conceded supremacy, and on the principles
advocated in the debate on general councils, the king him-
self convened the synod. As Constantine had presided at
Nice, Henry claimed to be its president ; as the pope had in
former times presided through his legates, so the king was
represented by his vice-gerent.f The summons to attend
the syncd was obeyed with the readiness with which
obedience was rendered to every command of Henry ^TIL,
and indeed with such alacrity as to ehcit the thanks of
the king. The upper house was addressed by the vice-
* Burnet mentions a copy of this speech among the Stillingfleet MSS.
But such copy cannot now be found.
f This title was assumed by Lord Crumwell, with a new patent in
153G, with the view of giving him more importance at the synod of 1537.
182 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, gerent in the following speech, as it were, from the
-— .-^ — ' throne,
Thomas
Cranm.-r. « Eight reverend fathers in Christ, the king's majesty giveth
1533-56. y^^^ j^-gjj thanks that ye have so diligently, -without any excuse,
assembled hither according to his commandment ; and ye be
not ignorant that ye be called together to determine certain
controversies which, at this time, be moved concerning the
Christian religion and faith not only in this realm, but also in
all nations thorow the world. For the king studieth da}^ and
night to set a quietness in the church, and he cannot rest
until all such controversies be fully debated and ended through
the determination of yoii and the whole parliament. And he
desireth you, for Christ's sake, that all malice, obstinacy, and
carnal respect set apart, ye will friendly and lovingly dispute
amono- yourselves of the controversies moved in the Church ;
and that ye will conclude all things moved by the word of God.
Ye know well enough that ye be bound to shew this service
to Christ and to his Church; and yet, notwithstanding, his
majesty will give you high thanks if ye will set and conclude
a godly and perfect unitie. AVhereunto this is the only way and
means, if ye will determine all things by the Scripture, as God
commandeth you in Deuteronoraie, which thing his majesty
exhorteth and desireth you to do." *
The bishops rose simultaneously, and desired to return
thanks to the king's majesty not only for his great zeal
towards the church of Christ, but also for his most godly
exhortation, so Avorthy of a Christian prince, f
Parties in the synod continued much the same as they
had been in the convocation of the preceding year, and
there still remained on both sides a conciliatory disposi-
tion encouraged by the king.
At this synod Crumw ell, who was profoundly ignorant on
all theological subjects, had by his side a Scottish divine,
of whom mention has been made before, Alexander
* Wake, 584. t Atterbnry, 397.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 183
Aless, evidently introduced, as an amicus curige to advise chap.
him. The presence of this person does not appear • — r-^
to have given onence so long as his advice was only Cranmer
whispered in the ear of the vice-gerent. It is probable i^ss-ae,
that other strangers were admitted to hear the debates,
and Aless had several personal friends among the bishops,
including the primate. But their surprise was great,
when Crumwell, unable to give an opinion on a theo-
logical question himself, desired Aless to address the
synod, the subject of the sacraments being under dis-
cussion. It must be confessed that the opinions of Aless
were more clear and defined than those of the archbishop
or any other of the members of the synod. He took
high ground and represented the question to be, whether
a sacrament was an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ,
appointed to " signify a signal and special grace of the
Gospel, or whether, on the other hand, it was a ceremony
which might be taken of any holy tiling." If the latter
were the meaning, then the word sacrament might be
given, not to seven ordinances only, but to any number
they might name. If the former were the meaning of the
word, then he concluded, with St. Augustine and other
fathers, that there were only two sacraments, baptism and
the supper of the Lord.
The Bishop of London replied to the Scot, and, to
the amusement of some of his hearers, lost his temper.
Arguing from the decretals, he maintained that the
sacraments were seven, neither more nor less. The
allusion to the decretals brought up the archbishop, his
strong point having been attacked, the sufficiency of
Scripture. Among other things, he affirmed that to
appeal to any other authority than Scripture, especially in
a synod, was not becoming the character of a bishop. The
archbishop was supported by the Bishop of Hereford, Dr.
184 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Tox. Fox had been the kinij's ambassador in Germany,
III. ^ *
- — . — ' and he held up the example of the Germans who had
Cranmer. translated the Scriptures; upon Avhich, rather than upon
1533-56. commentaries and glosses, it were wise to rely. The
Bishop of London treated with disdain the notion " that
tiiere is no other word of God than that which every
cobbler may read in his mother tongue."
As the synod was too excited to come to any calm
decision upon this important subject, it was prorogued for
the day.
The archbishop joined with the other bishops in
remonstrating Avith Crumwell upon the impropriety of
introducing a stranger and foreigner, for such at that
time a Scotchman was, into the synod, and the intrusion
of Aless was not repeated. *
The discus.sions of the synod led to an important
result. The bishops of the new learning suggested to the
king, the importance of carrjdng out to a greater extent,
and after longer deliberation, " the principle on which
the articles. of the late convocation had been based." The
bishops of the old learning could not oppose this proposal,
or perhaps dared not when it had the sanction of the
king and his cordial support.
The king accordingly issued a commission, for the
production of a formulary, larger and more complete than
the book of articles. Both parties were fairly represented
in the commission, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr.
Cranmer, the Bishop of London, Dr. Stokesle}', the Bishop
of Winchester, Dr. Gardyner, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr.
* Crumwell had some justification for his conduct, for Aless was at
this time what was called a king's scholar, a scholar receiving a salary
from the king, so appointed no doubt through the influence of Crum-
well, who roquired a privy councillor in his house to advise him on
theological question.s.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 185
Sampson, the Bishop of Norwich, Dr. Eepps, the Bishop chap.
of Ely, Dr. Goodricli, the Bishop of Worcester, Dr. . .__
Latimer, the Bishop of SaUsbury, Dr. Shaxtou, the Bishop cranmer
of Hereford, Dr. Pox, the Bishop of St. David's, Dr. Barlow, io33-o6
with others of the inferior clergy.
They met at Lambeth, and the primate was of course
tlie chairman. As might be expected from such a com-
mission, the debates at first were long and angry. The
prelate who took tlie most active part in the proceedings,
was the Bishop of Hereford, Dr. Fox, who was assisted
by the zeal, if not the learning of the Bishop of Wor-
cester, Dr. Latimer. The result was the production of
what was called the Bishop's book, " The Institution of a
Christian man." When it was nearly completed. Bishop
Latimer, writing to Crumwell, says that " his prayer to God
is, that w^ien it is done, it may well and sufficiently
be done, so that we shall not need to have any more
such doings : " he adds, " It is forsooth a troublous thing
to agree upon a doctrine in things of such controversy
with judgments of such diversity, every one, I trust,
meaning well, and yet not all meaning one way. But
I doubt not but now in the end, we shall agree both one
with the other, and all Avith the truth." *
I quote this passage, for it shows that by the reforming
party the publication of the Institution was regarded as a
final measure. Tliey were prepared to take their stand
here and to go no further. In another letter Latimer in-
forms Crumwell that their joint work will be forwarded to
him for transmission to the king by the archbishop, " to
whom also, if there be anything praiseworthy, bona pars
laudis Optimo jure debetur."f
It will be observed that Cranmer had not direct access
to the king : indeed he never had during the ascendancy
* Stote Papers, i. ii. 503. f Ibid. 556, 5G2, 563.
186 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, of Crumwell, if at any otlier time. It will be also
III
- — J — . observed that to the Institution, or the Bishop's book, we
Cranmer. ^^'^ to look for the theological opinions of Archbishop
1533-56. Cranmer in 1537. If he was a protestant at this time,
in any sense except in that of being anti-papal, we can
only say that protestantism was at that time something
very different from what it is now.
The Institution of a Christian Man contains an exposition
or interpretation of the Apostles' creed, of the seven
sacraments, of the ten commandments, of the Pater noster,
of the Ave Maria, of justification and of pm-gatory. It is
dedicated to King Henry YIII. by Thomas Archbishop
of Canterbury, by Edward Archbishop of York, and all
other the bishops, prelates and archdeacons of the realm.
It maintains that the Church of EuQ;land is a catholic
church and denies to the Church of Eome any exclusive
claim to that title, although regarding it as one branch of
the Church catholic. * The twelve articles of the creed
are to be received ; and all opinions are condemned which
are contrary thereto or which are condemned in the four
holy councils of Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chal-
cedon. f Baptismal regeneration is asserted to its full ex-
tent, and infants are to be baptized because they are born
in original sin, " ^vhich sin must needs be remitted, which
* Institution, 54, 55. Although the "word KadoXiKoc properly signifies
universal, yet they (the ancient fathers) commonly used it in the same
sense as we do the word orthodox, as opposed to a heretic, calling an
orthodox man a Catholic, that is a son of the Catholic Church; as
taking it for granted, that they, and they only, which constantly adhere
to the doctrine of the Catholic or Universal Church, are truly orthodox,
which they could not do, unless they had believed the Catholic Church
to be so. And besides that, it is part of our very creed that the
Catholic Church is holy, which she could not l^e except free from
heresy, as directly opposite to true holiness. Beveridge, "Works, ii.
107."'
I Institution, 02.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 187
can only be done by the sacrament of baptism, whereby chap.
they receive the Holy Ghost."* -^ — r—
In the exposition of the sacrament of penance, Cranmer Cranmer,
insists on the necessity of auricular confession, and directs i ^33-56,
the bishops and clergy to warn the people that they must
give no less faith and credence to the same words of ab-
solution, so pronounced by ministers of the Church, " than
they would give unto the very words of God himself if
He should speak with us out of heaven, according to the
saying of Christ, ' Whose sins soever you do forgive, shall
be forgiven, whose sins soever you retain, they are re-
tained.' And again in another place Christ saith, 'Who-
soever heareth you heareth me.' " |
From the article on the sacrament of the altar, we find
Cranmer asserting the Corporeal presence of our Lord in
that holy ordinance.
In speaking of the charge brought against him of
Erastianism, we have already quoted from the exposition
of the sacrament of orders. Cranmer clearly chstin-
guished between the authority received by a bishop from
Christ our Lord through the Apostolical succession, and
the right to exercise that authority in any particular realm,
which must be a concession of the state. The outward
and visible sign in the sacrament of orders he describes
to be prayer and the lapng on of the bishop's hands ;
the grace conferred he affirms to be nothing else but the
power, the ofiice, the authority of the ministry. "^
The subject of the sacraments had been frequently dis-
cussed. Cranmer and the men of tlie new learning;
determined, as we have seen, that to baptism, penance,
and the Lord's Supper the name of sacrament should be
confined. We have seen, however, that in the convoca-
* Institution, 93. -j- Ibid. 98. + Tbitl. 10.5.
188 . LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tion of 1536 angry disputes arose upon this question. In
^ ,^— ' preparing The Institution there was a compromise : the
Cranmer. archbishop aucl the bishops of his party were wiUing to
1533-56. concede the name, provided the opposite party would
admit an explanation which would distinguish " baptism,
penance, and the sacrament of the altar " from tlie other
ordinances, the divine appointment of which they did not
deny. The chapter, if it may so be caUed, on the sacra-
ments concludes in these words : —
" Thus being declared the virtue and efficacy of all the seven
sacraments, we think it convenient that all bishops and preachers
shall instruct and teach the people committed to their spiritual
charge ; that although the sacraments of matrimony, of con-
firmation, of holy orders, and of extreme unction, have been
of long time past received and approved by the common consent
of the catholic Church, to have the name and dignity of sacra-
ments, as indeed they be well worthy to have (forasmuch as
they be holy and godly signs, whereby, and by the praj^er of
tlie minister, be not only signified and represented, but also
given and conferred some certain and special gifts of the Holy
Ghost, necessary for Christian men to have for one godly
purpose or another; like as it hath been before declared); yet
there is a difference in dignity and necessity between them and
the other three sacraments, that is to say, the sacraments of
baptism, of penance, and of the altar, and that for divers
causes. First, because these three sacraments be instituted of
Christ, to be as certain instruments or remedies necessary for
our salvation, and the attaining of everlasting life. Second,
because they be also commanded by Christ to be ministered
and received in their outward visible signs. Thirdly, because
they have annexed and conjoined unto their said visible signs
such spiritual graces, as whereby our sins be remitted and
forgiven, and we be perfectly renewed, regenerated, purified,
justified, and made the very members of Christ's mystical body,
so oft as we worthily and duly receive the same." "^
* Institution, 128.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 189
The Jewish sabbath is clearly distinguished from the
Lord's Day. After an eloquent discourse on the spiritual
rest, or the rest from sin which is enjoined upon all
Christians, it is added that although to this spiritual rest
all Christians are bound,
"Yet the Sabbath day which is called the Saturday, is not
now prescribed and appointed thereto, as it was to the Jews ;
but instead of the Sabbath day succeedeth the Sunday, and
many other holy and feastful days, which the Church hath
ordained from time to time ; which be called holydays, not
because one day is more acceptable to Grod than another, or of
itself is more holy than another, but because the Church hath
ordained that iipon those days we should give ourselves wholly
without any impediment unto such holy works as be before
expressed ; whereas upon other days we do apply ourselves to
bodily labour, and be thereby much letted from such holy and
spiritual works." ^
It is added : —
" That all they do break this commandment also, which in mass
time do occupy their minds with other matters, and like unkind
people remember not the passion and death of Christ, nor give
thanks unto Him ; which things in the mass time they ought
specially to do ; for the mass is ordained to be a perpetual
memory of the same. And likewise do all those, which in such
time as the common prayers be made, or the word of God is
taught, not only themselves do give none attendance thereto,
hut also by walking, talking, and other evil demeanour, let
other that would well use themselves. And likewise do all
they which do not observe but despise such laudable ceremonies
of the Church as set forth Grod's honour, or appertain to good
order to be used in the Church.'" f
From this book and from the other we find that Cranmer
did not advocate the great I-jutheran doctrine of justifica-
* Institution, 144. t Ibid. 146.
190 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tion by faith only; faith was to be united with good
- — r^ — ■ works.*
Cranmer. In the cxposition of the Ave Maria is seen the pro-
1533-56. gress akeady made. The Ave Maria was declared not to
be a prayer. It was merely appended by custom to the
Pater noster as a hymn, laud and praise, partly of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for our redemption, and
partly of the blessed Virgin for her humble consent given
and expressed to the angel at this salutation.
Cranmer believed, at this time, in purgatory and in the
efficacy of prayers for the dead.
This formulary, signed as we have seen by the two
archbishops and by all the suflragans in their respective
provinces, was by them transmitted to the lower house of
convocation, where it received the signatures of the
clergy.f
Cranmer speaks of it as the production of a most
learned council of archbishops, bishops, and other learned
men of this king-dom consulting; on affairs of relig-ion.i
Although it never received the formal authority of
Henry, yet it was printed by the royal printer, to indicate
that it had received the king's imprimatur ; and the king
sent a copy of it to King James V. of Scotland, in the
hope thereby to induce him to make the like reformation
in the realm of Scotland as was in process in England. §
* Institution, 209.
j" Dr. Samuel Ward gives a list of the clergy in the lower house of
convocation Avho signed, but it was incomplete. Collier, iv. 402, and
Heylin, who consulted existing extracts from the convocation register,
speaks of the book as authorised by convocation. ^
+ Wilkins, iii. 827.
§ Heyliu, i. 40. In the second volume of Cranmei-'s Remains, the
reader will find two interesting papers : Henry YIII.'s corrections of
the Institution, and Cranmer's annotations on the same. The correc-
tions of the king are the remarks of a theologian and a scholar desirous
of sliowing his ability and his learning. They are lor the most part
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEEBURY. 101
The plague was raging in London, and the conimis- ^^-:^^-'
siouers were, by ::lie king's permission, dismissed from ^7 • ■■_'
their labours. It was especially prevalent at Lambeth, Cranmer.
where people were dying even at the very gates of the i»33-56.
manor house, now the palace. The archbishop retired to
Ford, not a little pleased at the work which he had accom-
plished, and which he had reason to hope would be final ;
and that it would preserve the peace of the Church.
Well would it have been for the Church if all who
desired its reformation had shown the same moderation as
the Archbishop and Bishop Eidley ; but there was already
a body of violent men who aimed not at the reform but
at the overthrow of the Church ; and who desired to see
in its place a protestant sect, though what protestantism
was scarcely two persons were prepared to say. The
violence, the irreverence, the blasphemies of the pro-
testant party alarmed the government, and the govern-
ment was the more alarmed because equally violent and
intolerant and profane men were their opponents, wdio
were generally denominated papists.
Heretic and papist were terms hurled about from
one side to the other, until the disturbances which
verbal criticisms. In the article of orders lie was evidently angry at the
restrictions upon the royal authority, though he Avould not deny the
correctness of the statenaents. Although Henry YIII. would tolerate
no opposition to his will, when his passions were roused, yet he en-
couraged in his courtiers great freedom of speech. He loved to engage
in an argument. Cranmer had no hesitation therefore to reply freely
to his royal critic, and the scholarship, both of the king and of the
primate, is seen to advantage. Henry's sole object appears, however, to
have been to show how superior the work would have been if he had
been on the commission ; but this did not imply that he did not approve
of the Formular}' as a whole, Avhich is proved by his sending it to the
King of Scots. On the other hand, Cranmer was not pledged to every
statement, as no one is who may append his signature to a document in
which there is nothing of which he disai^proves, though he thinks seme
things miglit have been done better.
192 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, threatened the peace of society were, to all appearance,
^ '- — • likely to terminate in a civil Avar.*
Cranmer. Tlic king had lost all confidence in Crumwell, who,
1533-56. having served his master by doing his dirty work, was, like
a filthy instrument no longer serviceable, cast aside ; and
Heniy took the reins of government into his own hands,
being for the rest of his reign his own minister. To
create uniformity, as he called it, he caused the statute
of the six articles to be carried through the two houses of
parliament in the year 1539.
Of this statute we have already spoken at some length,
and we have shown its object to have been, not to give
a triumph to any one party, but to keep both parties in
check. The king, who was alone responsible for the
policy, said in effect to the reformers, who had indulged
in great excesses, "You have abused the hberty I gave you.
We must retrace our steps ; we must go back to the place
from which we started, and proceed more wisely in our
reforms." The reformation proceeded steadily, though
slowly, during the last eight years of Henry's reign ; and
if we may judge from facts and not from party statements
and surmises, Henry never ceased to be a reformer ; a
protestant he never was, a reformer he continued to the
last. He was much too wise a man to suppose that he
could discard the papal supremacy and let things remain
as they were before. We have the archbishop's own
authority for saying that although, for political reasons,
he acted cautiously, the king was to the last determined
upon carrying out the reformation further. In conversation
Avith his secretary, Morice, after Henry's death, he said :
" I am sure you were at Hampton Court when the French
king's ambassador was entertained there at those solemn ban-
* See A Proclamation for Uniformitye in Religion. Brit. ]Mus.
Cleop. E.V. 303. " Oon parte of then^ calling the other papist, the
other parte called the other heretic.''
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 193
quetting houses, not long before the king's death ; namely, when CHAP.
after the banquet was done the first night, the king, leaning . ^ ,
upon the ambassador and upon me ; if I should tell what com- Thomas
^ _ ^ Lranmer.
municatiou between the king's highness and the said ambassador if^zz-b^
was had, concerning the establishing of sincere religion then, a
man would hardly have believed it. Nor had I myself thought
the king's highness had been so forward in those matters as
then appeared. I may tell you it passed the pulling down of
roods, and suppressing the ringing of bells. I take it, that few
in England would have believed that the king's majesty and
the French king had been at this point, not only within half a
year after to have changed the mass into a communion (as we
now use it) but also utterly to have extirpated and banished
the Bishop of Eome and his usurped power out of both their
realms and dominions.
*' Yea, they were so thoroughly and firmly rasolved in that
behalf, that they meant also to exhort the Emperor to do the
like in Flanders and other his countries and seignories, or else
they would break off from him. And herein the king's highness
willed me (said the Archbishop) to pen a form thereof to be
sent to the French king to consider of." *
On the 24tli of Februaiy, the bishops on the motion
of the primate directed, that no candles should burn in
the front of images, and that the candelabra should be
removed. They hkewise, at his suggestion, took measures
for the reformation of all portuases,f missals and other
books, and for the erasure of the names of all popes, and
of Thomas k Becket. Directions were at the same time
given for the instruction of the people in the Lord's
Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Command-
* Eemains, i. 321. Although the authority referred to by Dr.
Jenkyns for this anecdote is Foxe, yet Foxe stated that he had it from
JMorice himself. I do not find it in Morice's Anecdotes in the C.C.C.C.
Library, but I think that there is intrinsic evidence of its authenticity.
f A Avord formed from portiforium, a manual, the name given to the
breviary.
VOL. VII. O
19-1 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, ments, which they were required to repeat in the vulgar
- — r^— ' tongue.
Cranmer. Attention was called by the lower house, through the
1533-56. prolocutor Archdeacon Gwent, to the profanation of
God's name, and to the infamous profanity of the stage
where plays were acted of a character perfectly blasphe-
mous. The archbishop replied, that he and the other
l)ishops would bring the matter under the notice of the
king, and consult with his majesty on the subject. It is
presumed, that in making the complaint the lower house
named certain persons, such as Crumwell, who had encou-
raged these blasphemies and profanations, for the arch-
bishop enjoined the lower house not to repeat out of doors
what the two houses had, in convocation, freely discussed.
In the next session, which took place on the 3rd of
March, the first step was taken in favour of that liturgical
reform which ended in the formation of the Book of
Common Prayer. The expediency was discussed of pro-
viding one formulary of public devotion for the whole
province. The bishops decided, that the Use of Saruni
should be adopted in all their churches. They were
perhaps the more ready to do this, as an edition of the
Use of Sarum had been lately published from which the
name of the pope had been expunged, as being cont]"ary
to the last statute.* As the clergy were frequently getting
into difficidties by omitting to make the necessary erasures,
one would have supposed that they would have availed
themselves of a book which was in print and published
under the royal sanction. But either some of the bishops
* Portiforium secundum usum Sarum noviter impressum, et a plu-
rimis purgatum mendis. In quo nomen Eomano Pontifici falso ad-
scriptum omittltur, una cum aliis qua; Christianissimo nostri Regia
statute repugnant. Excusum Londini per Edvardum Whjtchurcli,
1541. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum. Bibliotliec. Cott.
Cleop. E. V. 259 ; apud Coll. v. 106.
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTEKBURY. 195
did not issue their injunctions, or some of the clergy chap.
neglected to obey, for in the convocation which met in Feb- - — ^—
'=' '' Thomas
ruary 1543, N.S., the archbishop brought down a message Cranmer.
from the king, in which it was stated to be his majesty's 1533-06.
wiU that all mass books, antiphoners,' portuases in the
Church of England should be newly examined, corrected,
reformed, and " castigated fr^om all manner of mention of
the Bishop of Eome's name ; from all apocryphas, feigned
legends, superstitious orations, collects, versicles, and
responses; that the names and memories of all saints,
which be not mentioned in the Scripture or authentical
doctors, should be abolished and put out of the same
books and kalendars ; that the services should be made
out of the Scriptures, and authentic doctors ; for the
eschewing of inconveniences, which daily chance to his
subjects of the clergy for their negligence in not abohsliing
such things and names, as by his majesty's injunctions
and proclamations have been commanded to be stricken
out, cancelled and abolished." *
It was not considered expedient to force the observance
of the Use of Sarum in every instance, and therefore in
pursuance of the royal mandate it was determined by the
upper house, that the service books should be submitted
for revision to the Bishop of Ely (Dr. Goodrich), and the
Bishop of Salisbury, together with a committee to consist
of six members of the lower house. The lower house
waived the privilege of fiu-nishing this committee, and the
whole affair was left in the hands of the bishops. They
seem to have submitted their proposals to the entire
convocation, for, diuring the two succeeding sessions, the
business of reformimg the prayer books of the Clnirch of
* Wilkins, iii. 863. Convocatio prslatorum et cleri provincias Cant,
ad 29 diem Martii continuata. Ex reg. convoc. et Excerpt. Hejlin. et
reg. Cranmer, fol. 9, 95, 10a.
o2
196 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Eneiand was under discussion, and the way was thus
ITT
- — r^ — ' prepared for the great event of the reign of Edward W.
CranmS. So important was this work esteemed, that the archbishop
1533-56. brought a message from the king to the effect, that during
the discussion on the reformation of the missals, no one
should absent himself without leave under the penalty of
the royal displeasure.
During the sessions of this convocation certain homilies
composed by some of the prelates * were introduced witli
the view of enabling those of the clergy who had not
ability to preach, nevertheless to instruct their people.
What became of these homilies, or whether they were
the composition of Cranmer, we know not. An order,
however, was made with the view of instructing the
people " that every Sunday and holiday throughout the
year, the curate of every parish church, after the TeDeum
and Magnificat, should openly read unto the people one
chapter of the New Testament in Enghsh, without expo-
sition, and wdien the New Testament was read over, then
to begin the 01d."f
This important convocation, — in which the archbishop
carried so many essential points, — wdien voting a subsidy to
his majesty appended to the instrument which conveyed
the grant the following four requests, as articles of the
clergy to be presented to the king : 1. That the ecclesi-
astical law should be reformed ; 2. That some impro-
prieties w^ith reference to the solemnisation of marriage
in Bethlehem hospital, Bishopsgate, should be amended ;
3. That an act of parliament should be made for the
* It is presumed that these liomilies were corrected and amended by
Cranmer, and in the reign of Edward VI. they were published. The
homilies then published stiU form our first book of homihes now nearly
obsolete.
f Wilkins, iii. 863.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CA^^TEEBURY. 197
consolidation of poor benefices ; 4. That provisions for chap.
just payment of tithes sliould be enacted by parhament."* ^ ^' .
During the whole of this period, Cranmer was engaged c^anmer
in the revision of the Institution, or the Bishops' Book, 1533-06.
and in preparing the I^ecessary Erudition, or the King's
Book. This work was commenced in 1540, but not
completed till 1543. In the year first mentioned, the
king appointed two commissions, one to draw up " an
exposition of those things which were necessary for the
institution of a Christian man," and the other to examine
" what ceremonies should be retained, and what was the
true use of them." Tlie primate was of course the
chairman, and the commissioners fairly represented the
two great parties of the old learning and the new.
What occasioned a delay so long in the production of
this work it is difficult to surmise, unless it be that the
minds of tlie commissioners were perplexed by the dis-
cussion of such subjects as faith, justification, and the merit
of good works, subjects lately brought upon the tapis. Of
these it is said by the king in his preface : " Forasmuch as
the heads and senses of our people have been embusied,
and in these days travailed with the understanding of free
wiU, justification, good works, and praying for the souls
departed ; we have, by the advice of om- clergy, for the
purgation of erroneous doctrine, declared and set forth
openly, plainly, and without ambiguity of speech, the
mere and certain truth in them." f
The formulary thus drawn up is valuable to us as indi-
cating the progress of Cranmer's mind in 1543. There
may have been certain parts of the formulaiy which, if
he had been alone concerned in drawing it up, he might
have expressed difierently ; but we have here what he
* Wilkins, iii. 863. t Formularies of Faith, 217.
198 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, thoiiglit sufficient for the teaching of the Church.* The
• — r^ — ' authority of the Church itself in articles of faith, though
CraTmer. Subordinate to that of the Scriptures, he still maintained.
1533-56. " All those things," it is said, " which were taught by the
Apostles, and have been by a whole universal consent of
the Chui'ch of Christ ever sith that time taught continu-
ally, and taken always for true, ought to be received,
accepted, and kept, as a perfect doctrine apostohc."f
The formulary vindicated to the Church of England the
title of the Cathohc Church in England, saying with refer-
ence to the Cliurch of Eome, that the Eomau Church,
" being but a several church, challenging that name of catholic
above all other, doeth great wrong to aU other churches, and
doeth only by force and maintenance support an unjust usurpa-
tion, for that church hath no more right to that name than the
church of France, Spain, England, or Portugal, which be justly
called catholic churches, in that they do profess, consent, and
agree in one unity of true faith with other catholic churches.
This usurjDation before rehearsed, well considered, it may appear
that the Bishop of Rome doeth contrary to Grod's law in chal-
lenging superiority and preeminence by a cloke of G-od's law
over all." +
We have already had occasion to refer to the assertion,
in this document, of the fact of an Apostolical succession
in the Christian Church. We revert to the subject because
it has been thought by persons not versed in ecclesiastical
history, that this historical fact is a novel invention. That
persons belonging to a denomination of Christians, the
* He gave to the Erudition his support in Convocation ; he upheld
it in his diocese ; in a draft of a letter for the king, in 1546, he made
Henry to refer to it as " his, the archbishop's OAvn book." He certainly
says of the Institution, that he had acquiesced in things which " he
never well understood," but that he did so because there was " no evil
doctrine therein contained." — See Jenkyns' Pref. to Eemains, xxxix.
f Formularies of Faith, 221.
% Il)id. 278.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 199
ministers of which cannot prove their succession, should chap.
. . • III
regard the fact as of no importance, is perfectly intel- - — ,^ — ■
ligible ; but to account for the reason why it should cranmer,
excite the ire of persons who belong to a church by Avhom 1533-56.
the advantage is possessed, when the fact is asserted,
would be perplexing, if we had not experience that party-
feeling is the result not of reason but of passion.
In treatmg of the sacrament of baptism he enunciates
with equal lucidity the doctrine of baptismal regeneration.
It will not be necessary to enter further into detail, as
the w^ork only professed to be a revised edition of the
Institution, rendering the ambiguous expressions in that
formulary conformable to the six articles passed by act of
parliament. The assertion of transubstantiation in tliis ac-
count is rendered more explicit, and transubstantiation was
still a doctrine for denying which Cranmer was prepared
to send an unbeliever to the flames. The Erudition Avas
superior to the Institution, from its greater conciseness and
perspicuity of expression. The practice of praying to the
saints was cleared of much superstition ; justification is
explained carefully, but still there is a shrinking from the •
Lutheran assertion that we are justified by faith only. Tlie
abihty shown in handhng the articles on faith, freewill,
and good works, is very great ; and we may say of both
these formularies, the Institution and the Erudition, that
whether we agree with the doctrinal statements or not,
they are in point of style very wonderful 23roductions
considering the age in Avhich they were composed ; and
indeed, without this consideration we may add that, even
in the nineteenth century, they would be treated as re-
markable works.
An attempt has been made to claim the authorship for
the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Gardyner. But we possess
an acknowledged work of Gardyner 's, and judging from
200 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tills, we may at once deny that the claim can be estab-
. — , -■ — lishecl. In point of doctrine and argument the Erudition
Cranmer. diffcrs little from tlic lustitutiou ; it is superior to the
153 3-56. Institution in point of style, and the style of Gardjuer, in
a later production is as bad as confused sentences and
incorrect collocation of words can make it. Cranmer's
style was his strong point, and perhaps we shall not be
far wrong, if we conclude that the work was revised by
him, assisted by the Bishop of Eochester, Dr. Heath, a
man admitted to be both a scholar and a divine.
Bishop Gardyner probably laboured to retain whatever
tended to further the views of the old learning party, and
this may have been one of the causes for retarding the
pubhcation. Tradition has always given to Cranmer the
articles on freewill, justification, and good works.
Great pains and care were, as we have seen, taken in a
work which was expected to be for ever the doctrinal
formulary of the Church of England. Three years were
occupied in the composition of it, although it was little
more than a revision of the Bishops' Book. Questions
were submitted to certain sub-committees, and when the
answers were returned, two persons were appointed to
collate them. When the convocation met in 1543, first the
exposition of the Lord's Prayer and the Ave Maria were
submitted by the upper to the revision of the loAver
house. This was on the 20th of April. The next day
the explanations of the first five commandments were
handed by the archbishop to the prolocutor. On the
24th of April, the last five commandments and the
sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. And thus
day by day, the examination continued until, on the 30th
of April, a message through the prolocutor, was sent to
the bishops, stating that the lower house accepted the ar-
ticles sent down to them, as Catholic verities and religious
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEKBtEY. 201
truths ; they returned sincere thanks to the bishops for the chap.
great labour, pain and trouble which they had undergone > — .-1— -
in the cause of religion and of the realm, and also for cranmer.
the sake of unity. 1533-06.
Thus did the book obtain that full and synodical autho-
rity to which the king in the preface refers. This work,
published four years before the death of Henry VIII.,
gives us, so late as the year 1543, Cranmer's deliberate
opinion of Church authority. The precision with which
in a few words the doctrine of the Apostolical succession
is asserted, has never been surpassed. It is stated that
" order is a gift or grace of ministration in God's Church,
given of God to Christian men, by the consecration and
imposition of the bishop's hands upon them. ... As the
Apostles themselves, in the beginning of the Church,
did order priests and bishops, so they appointed and
willed the other bishops after them to do the like, as St.
Paul manifestly show^eth." * It then goes on to show
that the power thus divinely given is to be exercised,
subject to the laws of the realm.
This assertion in the authorised exposition of doctrine
in this reign should be taken into consideration when,
from chance expressions of Henry and of Cranmer, they
appear to broach Erastian opinions.
The king at the same time was desirous of having this
formulary published with the full sanction of the three es-
tates of the realm in parhament assembled. The confidence
in the bishops evinced by parliament is very remarkable.
In 1540 the king notified to Parhament the appointment
of the commission mentioned above. The parliament
waited for their report, and when it was not presented, a
vote was passed to the efiect that " aU decrees and ordi-
nances which, according to God's Word and Christ's
* Fornnilaries of Faith, 277, 278.
202 LIVES OF THE
CTTAP. Gospel, hj tlie king's advice and confirmation of liis letters
^^ ■ patent, shall be made and ordained by the archbishops,
bishops, and doctors appointed or to be appointed in and
npon the matter of Christian rehgion and Christian faith,
and lawful rites, ceremonies and observations of the same,
shall be in every part thereof believed, obeyed, and jt>^r-
formed, to all intents and purposes, upon the grounds
therein contained, provided that nothing shall be ordained
and decided which shall be repugnant to the laws and
statutes of the realm." *
This was the struggle in the reign of Henry. The
nation represented by him might decide as to what the
truth is ; this was a step towards Protestantism, but what
the nation as a nation might do in opposition to the pope,
an individual, whether right or wrong, might not do in
opposition to the king.
When the parliament met in 1543, an act was passed
" for the advancement of true religion and the abolition of
the contrary," in which it was declared expedient to or-
dain and establish a certain form of pure and sincere
teachinor aorreeable to God's Word and the true doctrine
of the Catholic and Apostohc Chiurch.
The necessary Erudition then received the acceptance
of parliament, being represented as a document the more
important at a time when controversies affecting " the
Cathohc and Apostolic Church of England" were preva-
lent ; such controversies being urged as rendering it neces-
sary to place some restrictions on the perusal of the
English Bible.
When the book was published in the king's name, it
was called the King's Book, to distinguish it from the
Institution, which was known as the Bishops' Book.
The next step taken appears to have been suggested
* Statutes at lame, II. 291.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 203
by the king himself. In the year 1543, a plentiful crop
had raised expectations of a good harvest, which were
doomed to be disappointed. As the time of harvest ap-
proached, " a plague of rain " marred the prospects of the
husbandman, and created an alarm lest a famine should
ensue. The primate was required to issue his commands
to his suffragans, enjoining them to supplicate the Divine
mercy by appointing a prayer of procession and litany.
The order was obeyed, but the litany was sung in some
places in Latm and in some places in English. It may be
also conjectured that some of the enjoined alterations were
not very strictly observed.
A htany in English was not an unusual thing. In the
middle ages, the mass was always in the Latin language,
but from time immemorial there had been translations in
the vulgar tongue of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the
Commandments, and also of the Litany,*
But there was no uniformity, and for uniformity Henry
VIII. had a special vocation : he wished to see everj'thing
done by rule.
He issued a further order of council in 1544, requiring
the archbishop "to take order incontinently that fi'om
henceforth, through his province, processions should be
kept constantly on the accustomed days and none other,
and be sung or said as the number of the quire shall
serve for the same, in the English tongue^ to the intent
that there might be authority in every place."
The uniformity, so far, related to the fact that an
* The Litany miglit be said in cliurcli bj a layman in some side
chapel, with people kneeling roimd him. I have seen this done in
foreign churches. At Lincoln Cathedral, some years ago, the Litany
was always chanted by laymen till we came to the Lord's Prayer, Avhen
the priest is directed to take up the serv'ice. It is to be hoped that this
right of the Laity handed down from primitive times has not been
abolished in that Cathedral.
204 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. English instead of a Latin litany should be used ; the
— ^^ — ' selection of the one or of the other having been till
Cranmer. tliis time, Optional. But the English litanies, though
1533-56. each resembled the other, were not identical in expression,
and there was some carelessness as to the erasures re-
quired by law. The archbisliop was conniianded, there-
fore, to translate a htany which might be published
by authority. To no fitter hands could such a work
have been consigned, and when it was completed the
archbishop addressed the following letter to the king : —
" It may please your majesty to be advertised, that according
to your Highness' commandment, sent unto me by your Grace's
secretary Mr. Pagett, I have translated into the English tongue,
so well as I could in so short time, certain processions to be
used upon festival days, if after due correction and amendment
of the same your Highness shall think it so convenient. In.
which translation, forasmuch as many of the processions in the
Latin were but barren, as me seemed, and little fruitful, I was
constrained to use more than the liberty of a translator ; for in
some processions I have altered divers words ; in some I have
added part; in some taken part away; some I have left out
whole, either for by cause the matter appeared to me to be little
to purpose, or by cause the days be not with us festival days ;
and some processions I have added whole, because I thought I
had better matter for the purpose than was the procession in
Latin ; the judgment whereof I refer wholly unto your Majesty;
and after your Highness hath corrected it, if your Grace com-
mand some devout and solemn note to be made thereunto (as
is to the procession which your Majesty hath already set forth
in English), I trust it will much excitate and stir the hearts of
all men unto devotion and godliness : but in mine opinion, the
song that shall be made thereunto would not be full of notes, but
as near as may be, for every syllable a note ; so that it may be
sung distinctly and devoutly, as be in the matins and evensong,
Venite, the hymns, Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc
Dim/ittis, and all the psalms and versicles; and in the mass
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 205
Gloria in Eoccelsis, Gloria Patri, the Creed, the Preface, the CHAP.
Paternoster, and some of the Sanctus and Agnus. As con- . _ ' .
cerninp- the Salve festa dies, the Latin note, as I think, is sober Thomas
® •' , Cranmer,
and distinct enough ; wherefore I have travailed to make the i533_56
verses in English, and have put the Latin note unto the same.
Nevertheless they that be cimning in singing can make a much
more solemn note thereto. I made them only for a proof, to
see how English would do in song. But by cause mine English
verses lack the grace and facility that I could wish they had,
your Majesty may cause some other to make them again, that
can do the same in more pleasant English and phrase. As for
the sentence I suppose will serve well enough. Thus Almighty
God preserve your Majesty in long and prosperous health and
felicity. From Bekisbourne, the 7th of October."^
" Your Grace's most bounden chaplain
and beadsman,
" T. Cantuarien.
*' To the King's most excellent Majesty."
This authorised Litany f was published in tlie year
1544 under the following title: "An exhortation unto
prayer thought meet by the king's majesty and his
clergy :|; to read to the people in every church after
processions. Also a Litany, with suffrages to be said
or sung in time of the said processions."
The reader who would see the great superiority of
Cranmer as a master of the English language, may
compare this translation with that which occurs in a
Primer published by Bishop Hilsey in the year 1535.
We have not space to insert the long list of saints, occupy-
ing three or four pages in the original Litany of the
* Remains, i. 315.
■j" State Papers, 1. Letter cxcvi. The date 1543 is given, and I
think correctly, as it appears that Cranmer advised the convocation on
that subject during the first session of this year.
:j: It therefore had the sanction of convocation.
206 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Use of Sanim, who are invoked to pray for us ; but we
may remark, that Cranmer reduced the three or four pages
to thr^e sentences. Cranmer, in the year 1545, taught
tlie people to ask the prayers of the Virgin Mary, and
to call upon angels and archangels, patriarchs and
apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins to pray for
us. But with the omission of these passages and the
deprecation of the Bishop of Eonie and all his detestable
enormities, among which Cranmer did not reckon prayer
to saints departed, the Litany we use in the nineteenth
century is the translation made from an old Latin Litany
of our Church in the sixteenth, and is a lasting testimony
to the great ability of Cranmer, at a period when the
syntax and rhythm of our language were not yet settled.
So acceptable was this translation of the Litany to the
Church, that it was determined to pubhsh a Primer, to
be drawn up on the same principle ; that of making the
devotions of the people as much as possible conformable
to the received doctrine of the Church.
The title of Primer had been given in the Church of
England, from the fourteenth century downwards, to cer-
tain forms of devotion translated for private use. The
earliest form of these translations may, perhaps, be traced
to times antecedent to the Conquest, when the Creed, the
Lord's Pra5''er,andthe Ten Commandments were taught the
people in the vulgar tongue. To these were added gradu-
allv, other offices of devotion, until, in the fourteenth cen-
tury, the collection obtained a certain amount of uniformity,
though admitting of alterations to meet the peculiarities of
different dioceses. It was published sometimes in English,
sometimes in Latin, sometimes in English and Latin.
One of its objects was to provide the people with a
translation of those portions of Divine worship with which
they were more directly concerned.
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 207
But as different dioceses had different Primers — though chap.
Ill
in principle one yet varying in detail — Henry's love of - — A — -
uniformity determined him to have one Primer for the cranmer.
whole Church of England.* 1533-06.
The Primer, when completed, was submitted to the
two houses of Convocation, and it was under the title
of " The Primer set forth by the king's Majesty and his
clergy, to be taught, learned, and read, and none other
to be used throughout his dominions."
If to the kino; we give the merit of susjcrestincf this
Avork, the credit of its compilation and of the translations
belongs to Cranmer. If the reader will take the trouble
of comparing this, which is generally called Henry ATLIL's
Primer, with the Salisbury Primer, he will, after making
all allowances for the improved state of our language
during the interval, be deeply impressed with the arch-
bishop's superiority as a writer. There is a strain of
piety running throughout the work from which we may
infer that there were many holy and humble men of
heart who in those troublous times were worshipping God
in secret and who were seeking not to inflame their
passions by the fierce polemical writings which abounded,
but to worship their God in spirit as well as in trutli.
The table of contents does not describe the volume in
* IMaskell's Moniinicnta Eitualia, and Burton's Three Primers. Tlie
notion prevails that the object now was, in opposition to the existing
order of the church, to supply the people with English prayers. The
object was simply to secure uniformity. Two books, sometimes called
Primers, had been published in Henry's reign. Marshall's Primer in
1535, and Bishop Hilsey's in 1539, but these were not really Primers,
they were manuals of devotion published by individuals without eccle-
siastical authority. It was just as if a man in these days should publish
a Prayer Book of his own, and call it the Book of Common Prayer
For Hilsey's Manual, Crumwell's authority may be quoted, but probably
it was for the very reason that the authority was insufficient that
Cranmer had nothing; to do Avith it.
208
LIVES OF THE
CHAP, its fulness. The Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria, the Creed,
^ — - and Ten Commandments are given. There are Prayers
Thomas n -ht • t-< t/^t mi
Cranmer. lor Matms, LvensoHg and Compline. There are the
1533-56. seven Psalms, the Litany as before published, the Dirige,
the Commandments, the Psalms of the Passion, the
Passion of our Lord, and some admirable prayers, includ-
ing private prayers for morning and evening, and graces
to be said at meal times.
The translation of the Missal and the Breviary, or
the formation of a book of Common Prayer, would have
been the natural consequence of these proceedings ; and
on Cranmer's own authority we can affirm that before
Henry's death, it had been determined to revise the
service books, to abolish several superstitious usages,
and to digest a new code of ecclesiastical law. For
the revision of the service books it would appear that
a commission had absolutely been appointed and had
nearly completed then* Avork. For the abolition of
certain superstitious ceremonies we find Cranmer writing
thus sensibly to the king in January 154G :
" As concerning the ringing of bells upon Alhallow Day at
night, and covering of images in Lent, and creeping to the cross,
he thought it necessary that a letter of your Majesty's pleasure
therein should be sent by 3'our Grace unto the two archbishops;
and we to send the same to all other prelates within your
Grace's realm. And if it be 3^our Majesty's pleasure so to do, I
have, for more speed, herein drawn a minute of a letter which
your Majesty may alter at your pleasure. Nevertheless, in my
opinion, when such things be altered or taken away, there
would be set forth some doctrine therewith, which should
declare the cause of the abolishing or alteration, for to satisfy
the conscience of the people : for if the honouring of the cross,
as creeping and kneeling thereunto, be taken away, it shall seem
to many that be ignorant, that the honour of Christ is taken
away, unless some good teaching be set forth withal to instruct
ARCiiBisnors of canterbury. 200
them sufficient!}^ therein: which if your Majesty command the CHAP.
Bishops of Worcester and Chichester with other your Gfrace's . _
chaplains to make, the people shall obey your Majesty's com- Thomas
raandment willingly, giving thanks to your Majesty that they i^^^^^q
know the truth ; which else they would obey with murmuration
and grutching. And it shall be a satisfaction unto all other
nations, when they shall see your Majesty do nothing but by
the authority of God's word, and to the setting forth of God's
honour, and not diminishing thereof.""^
Justice is not done by modern writers to the wise
and judicious policy of Henry "M^II., and the orderty
manner in which the Eeformation was conducted in his
reitjn. Of course, if men choose to assume that Cranmer
and Henry were Protestants, who ought to have risked
everything to estabhsh Protestantism, there is an end of
the matter. Tliey were, in reality, firm and consistent
Catholics, who saw that the Church required reform, but
in what particulars they had no previous conception.
Preconceived theories tliey neither of them had. When
they saw what was wrong they sought to amend it ;
when they discovered what was right they endeavoured
to establish it. But their minds were only gradually en-
lightened. Of Cranmer's opinion on transubstantiation,
we have spoken. In 1546 he had not yet given up the
dogma ; and, in all matters of doctrine, the king's mind
was sure to travel slower than that of the theolog-ian.
Sometimes, urged on by his avarice or his other passions,
the king would bring the country to the brink of a revo-
lution ; but when he coidd act on his own sound judgment,
lie encouraged Cranmer to advance in his opinions, while he
himself acted as the drag to prevent his advanced opinions
from endangering the gradual progress of the Eeforma-
tion. At the end of Henry's reign, the archbishop might
look back with some satisfaction to his past career as an
* Eemains, i. 318.
VOL. VII. P
210 LIVES OF THE
■ CHAP, ecclesiastic. The papal supremacy had been abolished ;
r-^ — ' the translation of the Bible had been authorised, and if
Cranm'er. tlic reading of it had been restricted to educated persons,
1533-56. this -was only a temporary measure ; various superstitions
had been abolished ; a formulary of doctrine had been
estabUshed, not exactly in accordance with what we should
now account orthodox, but certainly in advance of the
age ; the manuals of private devotion had been reformed ;
the reform of the public services, as well as of the canons
of the Church, was designed : and all this had been done
at a time Avhen it required a strong hand to preserve the
peace of the country, and to prevent, on the one hand,
reform from becoming revolution, and, on the other hand,
conservatism from being reactionaiy. Although the de-
spotic temper of Henry led sometimes to an exertion of
the prerogative repugnant to modern notions, and into
expressions, uttered in the haughtiness of an irritated
mind which sometimes behed his principles ; yet, in his
deliberate actions, he obsen^ed the forms of law in regard
to affairs both temporal and spiritual ; so that an historian,
more attached to the Eegale than the Pontificale, is fully
borne out in his remark: —
" Upon serious consideration, it "will appccar that there was
nothing done in the reformation of religion, save what was
acted hy the clerg}^ in their convocations, or grounded upon
some act of theirs precedent to it, with the advice, counsel, and
consent of the bishops and most eminent churchmen, confirmed
upon the post-fact, and not otherwise, by the civil sanction
according to the usage of the best and happiest times of
Christianity." *
One of the first measures adopted by the archbishop,
* Fuller, V. 188. Mr. Joyce, in his able and learned Plistory of Sacred
Synods, brings proof for the confirmation of this assertion in every
particular.
ARCIIBISIlOi'S OF CA:rrEKBUKV. 211
when Edward VI. ascended tlio throne, was to produce a chap.
book of Homihes which liad been long in hand. - ^■_
Although from the proceedings of convocation we see cmnmer.
that, among the clergy, there were men of worth and loss-oc.
learning, jet the abolition of chantries and private masses
had a tendency to place in a wrong position many who
had been wilhng to explain and enforce the " new learn-
ing," but who had not sufficient education or abihty to
fulfil the task. They had sought admission into holy
orders to earn a scanty livelihood by performing the
routine duties which private masses implied. Unless they
had received benefices from the king and the archbishop
they would have starved ; and now that, — as regarded their
temporal requirements, — they had been provided for, it
was necessary to supply them wdth spiritual food.*
So early as the year 1540, an attempt had been made
to. meet the demand from this quarter, through the publi-
cation, by royal allowance, of " Postills or Homihes upon
the Epistles and Gospels," with certain " sermons drawn
forth by dyverse learned men for the instruction of all
good Christian persons, and in especial of priests and
curates." The subject had also been discussed in the
convocation of 1542, when it was determined " to stay
such errors as were then by ignorant preachers sparkled
among the people." For some reason or other, perhaps
owing to the pubUcation of the " ISTecessary Erudition,"
* Wlien the mass -was turned into a communion, the fate of the
chantries was settled. The chantries were estabUshed for priests to saA'
mass for the dead, and to offer the sacrifice for sin, for the dead as
well as for the living. When the Eucharist was declared to be not such
a sacrifice as this, but a sacrament, a means of conveying Christ to living
souls, and of thus inspiring them to offer themselves, their souls, and
bodies a living sacrifice to God, chantries Avere not needed. As means
of propagating false doctrines they were denounced : they Avere abo-
lished, and the courtiers scrambled for the spoils.
212 LIVES OF Tin:
CHAP. Avliicli may have been regarded as sufficient for tlie pur-
_J:^,^ pose, the Horaihes did not appear till 1547.
n-amuer. The Arclibisliop of Canterbury had solicited the assist-
1533-56. aiice of his suffragans : to what extent he succeeded is
not known. We happen to know, indeed, that the sermon,
" Of the Misery of Mankind," proceeded from the pen of
Bishop Bonner, so unhappily distinguished in the persecu-
tions of Queen Mary's reign. It forms one of the Book
of Homilies which has a quasi authority in the Church,
as in the thirty-fifth of the Thirty-nine Articles it is declared
" that they contain a godly and wholesome doctrine ne-
cessary for these times."* But the chief management of
the publication rested with the archbishop, and we may
* It is fbuud almost verbally witli the same title among tlie Homilies
put forth by Bishop Bonner in Queen IMary's reign. We hear this
homily sometimes quoted by persons -whom Bonner ^vould have burnt,
and -who Avould themselves have burnt Bonner. The Homilies are not
read now, but the principle of reading homilies is recommended by the
Spectator, when lie advises the yoiinger clergy to read printed seriiions
from the pulpit. This is not advisable when there is ability to deliver
extempore or to write a sermon. But as the object of preaching is to do
good, it may be recommended Avhen a pastor finds a sermon written by
another calculated to explain a truth better than he could do it himself.
"When we look at the House of Commons, and see, out of live hundred,
how many, as a blessing to the country, are '• dumb dogs ; " when we
read the foolish speeches which are made, Avliich would be unread-
able unless they were " cooked " for publication by the reporter ; when
even of public men Avho are obliged to speak, the number is small
who are really eloquent, Ave ought not to expect that among eighteen
thousand clergy every one should have the ability to compose and deliver
more than a hundred original sermons in a year. It is remarkable
rather that on the average so many good sermons ai-e delivered. AVhen
printed sermons are used by a preacher, he is reading a homily, the
difli^rence between the practice of the sixteenth and nineteenth century
bein<i-, that the choice of the homily is left to the preacher. One of
the most eloquent assailants of preaching in a liberal journal, when
called upon to address a public meeting, failed so miserably, that he told
the writer " he should as an honest man cease to ridicule the clergy."
AKCHBISHOrS OF CANTEEBURY. 213
safely infer from them that cluriiiQ; the intervening four chap.
"'..."'. Ill,
years his mind liad advanced. The Homihes, which, if we ■-; — r^
accept a tradition, supported by some external evidence, Cranmer.
were composed by Archbishop Cranmer, are the Homi- i^^ss-oe,
lies, '' Of the Salvation of Mankind," " A Short Declaration
of the True and Lively Christian Faith," " Of Good Works
Annexed unto Faith," three out of twelve. Some persons
attribute also to the archbishop " The. Exhortation to the
Eeading and Knowledge of the Holy Scripture."
The publication is historically valuable, for it shows
that the archbishop's attention was directed to repress
Protestant error, as well as to reform his Church from
papistical superstitions. The excesses of the Anabaptists
are quite sufficient to account for a precaution taken by
Henry on the conservative side, Avithout supposing that he
or Cranmer had relaxed in their determination to effect
a complete reform of the Church, xigainst the prevaihug
antinomianism of the age the Homilies are a continual
protest. This was one of the great evils agaiust which,
quite as much as against those who, in their dread of
Antinomianism, had fallen back upon the papistical su-
perstitions, the archbishop and his fiiends had to take pre-
cautions at the commencement of Kino- Edward's reimi.
Hooper, himself a narrow-minded man and vehement in
asserting; what he reQ;arded as Protestantism, was against
this phase of Protestantism equally violent. Writing to
Bulhnger, he says : —
" The Anabaptists flock to this place, and give me much trou-
ble with their opinions respecting the incarnation of the Lord ;
for they deny altogether that Christ was born of the Virgin
Mary according to the flesh. They contend that a man who is
reconciled to God is without sin, and free from all stain of con-
cupiscence, and that nothing of the old Adam remains in Ids
nature ; and a man, they sa}^, who is thus regenerate cannot sin.
They add, that all hope of pardon is taken away from those who,
214 LIVES OF THE
CITAP. after having received the Holy Ghost, fall into sin. They
, ■ , maintain a fatal necessity, and that beyond and besides that
Thomas y^y[\\ ^f jTjg which He has revealed to us in the Scriptures, God
Cranmer.
io33-5C ^'^th another will by wliich He altogether acts under some kind
of necessity. Although I am unable to satisfj^ their obstinacy,
yet the Lord by His word shuts their mouths, and their heresies
are more and more detested by the people. How dangerously
our England is afflicted by heresies of this kind, God only
knows, T am unable indeed from sorrow of heart to express to
your piety. There are some who deny that man is endued with
a soul different from that of a beast, and subject to deca3\
Alas ! not only are those heresies reviving among us which were
formerly dead and buried, but new ones are springing up every
day. There are such libertines and wretches who are daring
enough in their conventicles not only to deny that Christ is
the Messiah and Saviour of the world, but also to call that
blessed seed a mischievous felloAV and deceiver of the world.
On the other hand, a great portion of the kingdom so adheres to
the popish faction, as altogether to set at nought God and the
lawful authority of the magistrates ; so that I am greatly afraid
of a rebellion and civil discord. May the Lord restrain restless
spirits, and destroy the counsels of Achitophel ! Do you, my
venerable father, commend our king and the council of the
nation, together with our Church, to God in your prayers." *
Cranmer's opinion of the nature of the sacraments,| as
here expressed, has more weight than his opinions generally
* Original Letters, xxxiii.
■j* In those days the controversy about the sacraments assinned a cha-
racter of importance. By baptism, called in the Homilies "The Sacra-
ment of Kegeneration," the tmbaptized were united to Christ ; by the
Lord's Supper the baptized w-ere continued in union Avith Christ. These
two ordinances, by the. fact of tlieir uniting us to Christ, differ in essence
from all other ordinances. The other five may be means of grace, but
not of this grace. The two, therefore, it was contended, shoidd differ
in name from all other rites. At a time w'lien all sects exterior to the
Church disconnect regeneration and renovation from baptism and the
Supper of the Lord, the dispute about the number of the sacraments
is a mere dipputc about Avords.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBUKY. 215
Jiave ; for what he has here said, we still pronounce to chap.
be a wholesome doctrine. It is thus stated : — --. — ,J — -
Thomas
"Although absolution hath the promise of forgiveness of sm, Cranmer.
yet, by the express word of the New Testament, it hath not this 1533-56.
promise annexed and tied to the visible sign, which is imposition
of hands. For this visible sign, I mean laying on of hands, is
not expressly commanded in the Xew Testament to be used in
absolution, as the visible signs in baptism and the Lord's Supper
are ; and therefore absolution is no such sacrament as baptism
and the communion are. And thougb the ordering of ministers
hath his visible sign and promise, yet it lacks the promise of
remission of sin, as all other sacraments besides do. Therefore
neither it, nor any other sacrament else, be such sacraments as
baptism and the communion are. But in a general acceptation,
the name of a sacrament may be attributed to any thing,
whereby an holy thing is signified. In which understanding of
the word, the ancient writers liave given this name, not only to
the other five, commonly of late years taken and used for
supplying the number of the seven sacraments ; but also to
divers and sundr}'" other ceremonies, as to oil, washing of feet,
and such like ; not meaning thereby to repute them as sacra-
ments, in the same signification that the two forenamed sacra-
ments are. And therefore St. Augustine, weighing the true
signification and exact meaning of the word, writing to Janu-
arius, and also in the third book of Christian doctrine, affirmeth,
that the sacraments of the Christians, as they are most excellent
in signification, so are they most few in number ; and in both
places maketh mention expressly of two, the sacrament of
baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. And although there are
retained by the order of the Church of England, besides these
two, certain other rites and ceremonies about the institution of
ministers in the Church, matrimony, confirmation of children,
by examining them of their knowledge in the articles of the
faith, and joining thereto the prayers of the Church for them,
and likewise for the visitation of the sick ; yet no man ought
to take these for sacraments, in such signification and meaning
as the sacrament of baptism and the Lord's Supper are : but
either for godly states of life, necessary in Christ's Church, and
21G LIVES OF THE
CHAP, therefore worthy to be set forth by public action and solemnity,
,_ ^^- _,^ by the ministry of the Church ; or else judged to be such
Thomas ordinances as may make for the instruction, comfort, and edifi-
Cranmer. "
io33-56 cation of Christ's Church." *
In order that I might bring the theological opinions of
Cranmer, their gradnal formation and their ultimate
settlement, before the i-eader, I have, in some measure,
deviated from the historical order of events. The arch-
bishop did not take an active part in political affairs, and,
with his enlightened chaplain Pddley, he was busy in in-
vestigating the all-important subject of trausubstantiation.
Henry had given his sanction to a review, with reference
ultimately to a revision of the breviary and the missal.
As the most important, the missal was first to be considered.
Was it a mass ? Was it the sacrifice of our Lord for the
quick and the dead? or was it merely a communion?
The Englisli reformers regarded it as the means of convey-
ing Christ to the believer, so that, as food blending with
his body becomes one with the man who eats, Christ,
received by faith, may become one with the believer, and
thus become the sustenance of his soul ; to the end that
the believer, being one with Christ, might offer himself,
with all the sanctified in heaven and in earth, a sacrifice
to God, an offering of holy persons ready to do God's will.
This was the bearing of the question as it put itself to
Cranmer's practical mind. If j^ou adhere to the mass,
then must you adhere to trausubstantiation ; if the Eu-
charist is to be received, on the principles of the primitive
Church, as a communion, and not as a mass in the me-
diaival sense of the word, the dispute about trausubstan-
tiation is a mere logomachy, against which Cranmer's
mind revolted. He had begun to hesitate, but he had not
* Conic, Homilies, 355.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBUKY. 217
decided. He still devoutly celebrated mass ; and cele- chap.
brating mass, he could not deny the dogma of transub- ~ ^ .
, ,• ,• Thomas
StantiatlOn. Cranmer.
In the January of 154G-7 the archbishop was pursuing 1533-06.
his investigations and studies at his manor of Croydon.
He consoled himself for the absence of his wife by learned
discussions with Eidley, and by a moderate enjoyment of
those field-sports in which, through life, he indulged.
He had long been anxious about the state of the king's
health ; but he had no reason at this time for feeling more
anxiety than usual. The king had a wife who, though
her heart was given to another, attended to his wants, and
bore with his caprices. Henry was only fifty-six years of age,
and so he had, comparatively speaking, youth on his side ;
but self-indulgent in all things, he had lately given him-
self to the pleasiu'es of the table ; whole estates, conferred
originally upon the fasting monks, were thrown with care-
lessness into the lap of cooks and confectioners wdio
could by new inventions pamper his palsied appetite. He
had become so unwieldy and corpulent that he could not
move from one part of his room to another without assist-
ance. As is often the case with sensualists, he indulged m a
kind of maudlin sentimentality. But this emotional piety
was no indication of a softened heart. Was that heart of
stone ever converted into a heart of flesh ? God knows.
All we know is that his last conversation with Cranmer re-
lated to the execution of a heretic, whose heresy might
have been pardoned, if, in the assertion of it, he had not
reflected on the character of the king himself. There is
something very awful in hearing that the last act of
Henry YIH. was to sign the death-warrant of his long-
tried minister, the Duke of Xorfolk — the uncle of two of
his murdered queens, and his own uncle-in-law — the great
commander who had added to the glories of his reign and
218 LIVES OF THE
CHAr. the security of his throne by tlie victory of Flodclen Field.
Norfolk was condemned to suffer on the 29th of January,
and althouo'h he had been no friend to Cranmer, still the
sympathies of the archbishop, the most forgiving of men,
must have been excited at the approaching end of one
whom he had been accustomed to meet day after day at
tlie council board, and whose sentence Avas a sermon on
that insecurity of life of wliich every counsellor of Heniy
must have been painfidly aware.
It was a gloomy time : the reigning king was a capri-
cious tyrant ; the heir apparent was a boy. On the 28tli
of January, an unexpected summons came to the arch-
bishop to attend upon the king, without loss of time, at
Westminster. When he arrived, he found Henr}' speech-
less. Cranmer reminded the dying sinner, who had
caused the death of many a better man, that even to the
last there is hope to the penitent who seek salvation
through a Saviour Almighty to save. Henry YUl. tiu'ned
his o-lazed eye towards the only man in the wide world
who felt for him as a friend; he squeezed the archbishop's
hand, and died. The rich man died and was buried.
Every mark of respect was shown to the memory of
the king, Avhose death was the more deeply felt from the
anxiety occasioned by the fact that his son was a minor.
Henry was bmied at Windsor, and Cranmer sang the
mass. When Francis L, King of France, followed his
friend Henry VHL, another criminal before the throne of
the King of kings, his obsequies were celebrated in
England, and the mass was chanted by Cranmer. The
archbishop, as the head of the council, ordered a dirge
to be sung in all the churches of London, and himself,
assisted by eight other bishops in their rich mitres and
pontificals, sang a mass of requiem,*
* rJidWs Kidlev, -210.
ARCUBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 219 '
By the will of Henry, the Archbishop of Canterbury chap.
was placed at the head of the regency which was to • — r^ — •
govern the country during the minority of the young crann.er.
king. It was an advantage to the country that Crannier, io33-,:g.
Avlio was not endued with much administrative ability
or pohtical sagacity, was not a worldly or ambitious
man. He readily acquiesced in the arrangement which
conferred the title and power of Lord Protector on the
Earl of Hertford — or, as we shall henceforth style him,
the Duke of Somerset, such being his historical name. It
might have been well for both Somerset and the country
if there had been in the pri\-y council nominated by
Henry VIII. sufficient foresight and wisdom to hmit the
powers of one who, though constituted by themselves only
a primus inter pares^ was soon afterwards invested, by the
child upon the throne and a careless parliament, with
power almost despotic*
By the archbishop support was given to the Lord
Protector so long as he continued in office, with the
understanding that, in legislating for the Church, the
Protector should act under the advice of the Primate.
By some writers " Cranmer is accused of an ungenerous
pusillanimity in deserting his friend the Protector when,
after a few years' trial, he was driven from office. But it
remains to be proved, that any personal friendship, at any
time, existed between these two great men. I believe
that I have consulted most of the private letters and public
documents relating to the domestic afiairs of our country
at this time, and I do not recollect having seen anything
to show that Somerset received from Cranmer anything
more than that general support which was accorded to
him by the other members of the council until the
majority had determined on a change of ministry. At
* Tytlev, 53 : Burnet, ii. 98, Append.
• 220 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tlie same time we are certain that, from several of the
— ,-- — ' measures adopted by the Protector, Cranmer withheld his
Cramu'er. siipport, aiid to somc lie offered a decided opposition.
1533-56. Although Cranmer had not always the courage to
abide by his principles, yet his religion w^as a religion of
principle, and not of mere emotion. The very opposite
to this may be predicated of the Protector. Cranmer's
faults Avere few, even if they were glaring ; and among
his minor faults we may complain of his want of imagina-
tion and his inability to comprehend how man arrives at
the truth not by reason only, but by a balance of the
several faculties of his nature brought to bear upon one
particular point : his tendency was to rationalism rather
than enthusiasm. Somerset was a creature of impulse.
He sought to relieve the sufferings of the people by
the adoption of measures which sometimes alarmed the
conservative selfishness of the other members of the
council, and we may give him credit for generous in-
clinations.* At the same time, when corrupt motives were
imputed to him, as they will be by the base and selfish in
all cases ; or when he met with opposition where he had
expected support ; he showed himself impatient, arrogant,
and quick-tempered. Cranmer, on the other hand, was
one of the mildest and most placable of men. On grand
occasions, Cranmer would appear witli mitre and cope and
in full pontifical display, the cross of Canterbury being
carried before him ; yet, in private life, his manners were
simple and unostentatious. Somerset, on the other hand,
affected a regal state, and, through a puerile assumption of
dignity, excited the indignation of the ancient aristocracy,
already envious of the honours which a man so lately
ennobled heaped upon himself. He revelled in the spoils
of the monasteries, and equalled Crumwell himself in his
love of riches. If he was godly, he certainly found, in his
* Slrvpo, ^Mcmoriiils, i. pt. i. 14G.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBURV. 221
own case, tliat o-odliness was 2;aiii. He liad received from chap.
^ . . ■ III
Henry VIII. tlie grant of three religious houses ; and one ■ — - — -
of the first of his acts as Protector was to endow liimsclf Clanger.
with five or six more. Among these were the splenchd ij3:j-06.
monaster}'" of Sion near Brentford, and the Abbey of
Glastonl)ur3^ The latter he had the bad taste and feeling
to turn into a worsted manufactory. On the site of what
stiU retains the name of Somerset House, he determined
to build a palace ; and his religion was so far removed •
from superstition, that to make way for his palace he
destroyed the parish church of St. Mary-le-Strand ; and
when materials were wanted, orders w^ere issued to blow
up by gunpowder the foundations of the church of St.
John of Jerusalem, that the stones Avhich the late prior
had employed in the restoration of the house of his God,
might be more usefully applied to the edification of the
palace of the king's luicle. Time, taste, and money the
last prior of the knights of St. John had expended — we
think not wasted ; for though he was reduced to beggaiy
for his superstition, there are some who think superstition
not worse than sacrilege. None of the council equalled
the Duke of Somerset, either in his rapacity or in his
display ; but as Fuller quaintly expresses it, " Courtiers
keep what they catch, and catch what they can."
Extensive offices were required for the liveried
servants whom, in defiance of the law, the duke, almost
royal in his establishment, maintained. To create apart-
ments for his menials, the town houses of three bishops
were demolished, their chapels were desecrated, and plea-
sure-grounds were formed, reaching to St. Paul's church-
yard, for this religious Sybarite, whose patronage of the
Protestantism by which he was, enriched, has secured for
him the undeserved character of a saint.* He permitted
* Stow, 595. " This Somerset House is so tenacious of liis name, that
it woukl not change a duchy for a kingdom, -when solemnly proclaimed
222 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, liis religious principles to cany him to extremes Avliich
■ — .-'- — ' "would scarcely be, in modern times, approved. He refused
Cranmer. to praj for tlic dead ; and lie did more, lie denounced
1533-56. monuments erected to their honour ; and he treated
Avith scientific scorn the bodies of the departed. The
charnel-house and chapel in St. Paul's Churchyard Avere
destroyed, and the neighbouring fields were Avhitened by
the bones of the dead, wliich, scattered over them, uere
utilised into manure. So active, we are told, Avas the
'" good duke's zeal " against the religion or superstition of
monastic establishments, that he had consigned West-
minster Abbey to destruction. He Avas diverted, aa^c are
informed, from his purpose by timely gifts of land ; al-
though it is difficult to understand Iioav, so far as principle
is concerned, by the gifts of land, so timely conceded, any
alteration was made in the state of the case.
Cranmer Avas never a popular character. He had not
the art of Avinning the applause of the masses, or of appeal-
ing to their feelings, although no one desired more sincerely
to promote their real and permanent AA'elfare. Among his
private friends, hoAvever, and by all Avho came in contact
Avitli him, Cranmer was ahvays beloA^ed ; and the longer
he Avas knoAvn, the more endeared he Avas to his friends.
Somerset, on the contrary, Avas the most popular cha-
racter of the age. Wherever he Avent, the cheers of the
populace aAA^aited him. At the end of tAventy years, it
might be, that a man Avould find that he AA^as not one
Avhit more dear to the duke than he Avas at the first AA'arm
greeting he receiA'cd ; but still there was the kind look,
and the right Avord expressed at the right time and to the
by King James Denmark House, from the King of Denmark's lodging
therein, and his sister Queen Anne her repairing tliereof. Surely
it argueth that this duke was well beloved, because his name made such
an indelible impression on this his house, whereof he was not full live
years peaceably possessed." — Fuller, Cli. Hist. iv. 87.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 116
right person. ^Ylien he was not provoked to anger, he chap.
knew how to administer the flattery of which a concourse ^ — -
of persons are as susceptible in tlie mass, as is everyone crann.er.
individual!}'' of which that mighty mass is composed. io33-56.
Flattered by their cheers, such a one flatters them iu their
turn ; and anecdotes are passed from mouth to mouth
in proof that the flattery offered is deserved. But un-
flattered at the council table, Somerset was there con-
tinually giving offence. Forgetting that his nephew vras
his king, he treated the precocious youth as a boy, re-
garded him as a puppet in his own hands, subjected him
to restraint, and made him feel, as Edward once expressed
it, like a prisoner in his own palace. Cordially did the
royal youth hate his uncle, and heartily glad he was to
be emancipated from his control.*
Somerset's popularity was only with his own party ;
and as our chief authorities for this portion of English
historj^ were — until the pubhcation of the State Papers — ■
Protestant, he has received a character for excellence
wliich h e certainly does not deserve. From the facts before
us we infer, that although the Eeformation had many and
eminent supporters in the midland counties, in the towns,
* The entries in his diary on what relates to the trial and death of
Somerset, are sufficient to show that the character of young Edward
was as stern as that of his father. The unprincipled Lord Seymour,
the admiral, Edward's other uncle, tried to win the boy's favour by
encouraging him to communicate with him clandestinely, and by
inducing him to resent the Protector's dLscipline. The notes from the
State Paper Office are printed in Tytler, i. 112. When the Protector
was deposed, Cranmer, Paget, and Wingfield, writing to the council, say
of the king : " The king's majesty, thanks be to the living God ! is in
good health and merry, and this day after breakfast came forth to Mr.
Vice-chamberlain, and all the rest of the gentlemen, Avhom, I promise
your lordships, he bade Avellcome with a meiTy countenance and a loud
voice, asking how your lordships did, when he should see you, and that
you should be Avellcome whensoever you come : the gentlemen kissed
his highness' hands, every one much to their comfort.'' — Tvtier, i. 212.
224 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, and especially in the metropolis, the opposition was at the
.'- — - same time so strong, that when Somerset was disgraced, his
Cnmmen partizans, though strong enough to raise a clamour, failed
io33-56. to excite an insurrection in his favour: in truth, a reaction,
caused by his violent and unjust proceedings, had already
commenced.
This reaction Cranmer evidently foresav/, dreaded, and
desired, if possible, to avert. Therefore, proceeding in our
reference to facts in order that we may show, in justice to
Cranmer, that no cordiality of friendship existed between
him and Somerset, and that even when acting together,
they were not always carrying out the same principle, I
will at once observe that the Duke of Somerset w^as, at
the commencement of Edward's reign, far in advance of
the archbishop. Both were decided antipapists. Tlie
duke was not merely a reformer such as Cranmer, but he
was a Protestant ; he w^as more than a Protestant, in the
strict sense of the word. He was not of the Lutheran
school, he was a Calvinist ; hence the enthusiasm with
wdiich his history has been written. He was prepared to
go all lengths with his party. The excesses of which many
of his party Avere guilty ere Henry YHI. Avas welhiigh
cold in his grave, had been so hghtly repressed by him,
that it might almost be said, and by his enemies it was
said, that he encouraged them.
Cranmer appears at the beginning of the new reign in
a new character. It is said that he had encouraged Henry
to advance further in the direction of the reformed
doctrines ; and although I am not aware that any proof
of this fact exists, it is highly probable. But in conversa-
tion with his private secretary, who urged him to proceed
with the reformation, the arclibishop said, as his secretary
i^eports, " It was better to attempt such reformation in
king Henry VIII.'s days, than at this time, the king
being in liis infancy. For if tlie king's father had set
ARCIlBlSUOrS OF CANTERBURY. 225
forth an)4hing for the reformation of abuses, who was he
that durst gainsa}^ it ? Many, we are now in doubt how
men will take the change and alteration of abuses in the Ci-anmer.
Church."* The foreign reformers of the Calvinistic i^^s-se.
school complained of Cranmer, that he was lethargic and
lukewarm, unmlliug to carry out the Eeformation to its
full extent, even when the cards were in his hands ; and
one of the reasons assigned by the Dake of Northumber-
land in 1552, for desiring the preferment of John Knox,
— or as his Grace writes, Mr. Knocks, — to the bishopric of
Eochester was, that he would be " a whetstone to quicken
and sharpen the Bishop of Canterbury, whereof he hath
need."f A person who could thus speak in private could
have no confidence in the government, and was not likely
to offer any strong opposition to a change of ministry,
when the time for such change had arrived.
To some of the measures adopted at the suggestion
of the Protector a direct opposition was offered by the
Primate. The parliament had granted to Heniy YIIL
what Henry condescended to accept as a mark of their
confidence and as a proof of their sense of his moderation,
a right to deal with the property devised, in times past,
for the maintenance of colleges, free chapels, chantries,
hospitals, fraternities, brotherhoods, and guilds,J and
* Eemains, i. 321. f Tytler, Orig. Letters, ii, 142.
I It may be convenient to mention that a chantry " was a little
church, chapel, or particular altar in some cathedral, church, &c ,
endowed with lands or other revenues for maintenance of one or more
priests daily to sing mass and perform divine service, for the use of
the founders and such others as they apj^ointed. Free chapels were
independent on any chiu'ch, and endowed for much the same pui'pose
as the former. The obit Avas the anniversiiry of any person's death ;
and to observe such day Avith prayers, alms, and other oblations,
was called the keeping of the obit. Anniversaries were the yearly
returns of the day of the death of persons, which the religious regis-
VOL. VI 1. Q
226 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, all similar institutious, the funds of whicli were to be
• A — employed in procm^ing masses for the dead. The confis-
Cranme?. catcd property was to be " converted to good and godly
1533-56. uses," — the foundation of almshouses and scrammar schools,
the endowment of populous parishes ruined by the dissolu-
tion of the monasteries to wliich they had been formerly
attached, — and the repairs of harbours, piers, embank-
ments, and other public works. As Henry in his will
directed masses to be offered for the repose of his soul,
we may presume that he felt some compunction in thus
robbing others of a privilege which he valued for himself.
On the subject of purgatory we may also presume, that
Cranmer's own mind was not made up. He did not
hesitate to offer masses for the repose of Henry VIH. and
of Francis I. In the first reformed Prayer Book of King
Edward, prayers for the dead were commanded ; and
in the bishops' book of the last reign, disputes were for-
bidden about the pains suffered by those who died " un-
der imperfect qualifications," though the name of pur-
gatory is not once mentioned. Whether on these grounds
or from want of confidence in the Protector, whose object
was to enrich himself and to purchase partizans, or
whether under the joint influence of doubt and distrust,
Cranmer resolutely opposed the measure, when by the
introduction into parliament of a bill for the dissolution
of colleo;es and chantries Somerset sought to invest the
council witli the powers formerly conceded to Henry VIH.
The preamble, intended by the Protector to win the
support of the ultra-reformers who regarded him as their
leader, went further than Cranmer was, on this head, pre-
pared to go, in attributing " a great part of superstition
tered in their obitual or martyrology, and annually observed, in
gratitude to their founders or benefactors. Guild signifies a fraternity
or company, from the Saxon guildan, to pay, because everyone was to
pay something towards the charge and support of the company."
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 227
and error in Christian relisiion " to tlie retention of masses chap.
Ill
for the dead ; but it is certain that Cranmer saw through ^ — .-l— -
the unconscious hypocrisy of Somerset, who if he really cranmer.
felt, as he probably did, that the masses were superstitions io33-56.
which ought to be abolished, had no intention of applying
the funds, when placed in his hands, to the objects specified
in the bill. The Protector had to purchase the support
or buy off the opposition of the ancient aristocracy, who
viewed the advancement of the novus homo with no
feelings of complacency ; and he had to provide estates for
those plebeians whom he designed to ennoble. His
object was perceived in the House of Commons, and by
the lower house the archbishop was supported. By the
proposed act the clergy in the towns woidd have been im-
poverished, and the towns would therefore have had to
support them ; and though the bill proposed to meet this
difficulty, it was felt that the difficulty would not be fairly
met by the Protector. What Cranmer suggested was
reasonable and politic. He would postpone the proposed
measures until the king had come of age. Time would
then be gained to discuss the doctrinal merits or demerits
of the case, and the property, if confiscated, would be ap-
plied to the king's use. If power were given to the Pro-
tector and the Commissioners to sell or otherwise to alien-
ate it, it would be sold to comtiers at a mere nominal
charge, and it would afford a scramble, as was afterwards
the case, to political reformers who, with the name of God
on their lips, were possessed by the Demon of Avarice.*
The House of Lords was as quick-sighted to discern
the purpose of the Protector as the House of Commons,
but as the lords temporal were to divide the spoil,
Somerset found no difficulty in carrpng his measure.
* 1 Edw. vi. c. 14. Pari. Hist. iii. 223.
Q 2
f
228 LIVES OF THE
What Cranmer foresaw came to pass. The goods and
lands were sold to the courtiers.*
Perhaps the funds thus passing into the hands of
Somerset and his supporters averted a direct attack on the
property of the Church as distinguished from that of the
monasteries ; although the Church was under Somerset's
government plundered in various ways. The nomination
to the higher preferments of the Church being in the hands
of the Protector, he comted popularity by appointing
reformers ; but they were too frequently reformers who,
hke Somerset himself, made a gain of godliness. Men
were nominated on the condition that as soon as they
were in possession of the property they should either
ahenate the estates in favour of the nominees of the
court, or let them on long leases, which amounted almost
to a donation of the fee-simple. To such an extent was
this dishonesty carried, that in Queen Elizabeth's reign
leases for more than twenty-one years were made illegal.
The Protector did not always consult the Primate in
his appointments, and consequently he sometimes involved
him in difficulties. Among others we may cite the case
of Hooper. Hooper, an extreme Calvinistic reformer, was
certainly a generous, and was always regarded as a pious
man. His opinions concurred with those of Somerset,
and his appointment to an episcopal see, effected with
difficulty by Somerset when he had ceased to be the
* Wlio forgot to pay or paid next to nothing ; but wlio, as Hayward
hints were now pledged to the Eeformation. Bub this was not all.
Goods, chattels, plate, ornaments, and other movables being common
goods of snch colleges, free chapels, chantries, and stipendiary priests,
Avere conveyed to the king, and in the king's name a rush was made
upon all the movable property by hundreds who never accounted for
the same to the King or the Protector, who Avere loud in their
denvmciation of aU that was held sacred, and who in the name of God
blasphemed.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 229
Protector, was hailed with enthusiasm by the party which
regarded Somerset as a saint. It is hardly to be sup-
posed that, at a period when the object w^as to promote
peace and harmony among the reformers, Cranmer would 1533-56.
himself have selected a man so pertinacious in his opi-
nions as to create a controversy on a subject so trivial
as that of the sacerdotal vestments. As we happen to
know that at this period Cranmer's caution was repre-
sented by many as lukewarmness, we can easily imagine
the extreme party urging the Protector to nominate to
the Episcopate a man who was more decidedly Protestant
in his views than Cranmer ever became.
I have been led to connect some events, which took
place at a later period of the reign of Edward, with the
occurrences which marked its commencement, because
the reader will remember that I am not writing a history
of the Eeformation, but the life of Cranmer, and I wish
to show that although Cranmer and Somerset acted
together and accorded in a desire to reform the Church,
they were not associated by any congeniality of temper
or character, or, to a certain extent, we may say even of
principle. Such being the case, no blame attaches to
Cranmer for sending in his adhesion to an opposite part}'-
in the council, when insurrections at home and disasters
abroad, financial derangement and forebodings of a na-
tional bankruptcy, proved Somerset's inadequacy to con-
duct the affairs of the country.*
* I have not occasion to enter into an examination of the proceedings
against Somerset ; but I may say, that after a patient examination of all
the documents which have come to light, I am inclined to acquit him
of everything but incompetency to discharge the high duties in which
he had been involved by his ambition. His first disgrace was merely
a change of ministry. He was certainly dealt with leniently according
to the customs of the age, when death frequently followed the depo-
sition of a minister. The opposition had not taken Cranmer into their
230 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. At the coronation of Edward VI. the archbishop offi-
V — ^ — . ciated. From the Saxon times to the reign of our present
Cranmer. bclovcd quecn, thc Church of England has used at the
io33-o6. unction and coronation of our sovereigns an office sub-
stantially the same. The primate is at liberty to make
such alterations in details as circumstances from time to
time may require ; and Cranmer, with his usual distrust
in his own judgment, consulted the Privy Council as to
the changes which the youth of the king, only nine years
of age, might render expedient. The ceremonial — fol-
lowed, as it always was till the reign of William IV. by a
banquet — was fatiguing to those who were in the vigour
of their strength ; and the question was whether to such
fatigue the young king should be subjected. There were
the precedents of Henry III. and Henry VL, who were
councils, but as soon as their intentions Avere made known to him, he
cooperated with them. A timid counsellor he always was, but there
is no reason to suppose that he did not now act upon his convictions.
Certainly, as far as I can ascertain, he was not bound to the ex-minister
by any ties of friendship. A man who like Somerset could sign his
brother's death-warrant rather than sacrifice his ambition, was not a
man likely to be trusted by his associates. There seems to be little
doubt that the admiral deserved his fate, for he was a bold, bad man ;
but when his brother Avas his executioner, we suspect that the brother's
heart was as tough as that of Henry VIII. Somerset's own death was
brought about through measures the most iniquitous ; but there can be
little doubt that Warwick found him intriguing to be restored to
power. This minister had treated Somerset leniently ; he had permitted
him to resume his seat at the council board, and then found that
Somerset was manoeuvring to supplant him. He determined to destroy
him, and he resorted to the most iniquitous arts to accomplish his
object. Still Somerset had provoked his fate. I am not aware that
in this matter Cranmer was in any way mixed up, and therefore I pass
it by. Some writers dwell on Somerset's personal piety. That is, of
course, a point on which we can know nothing for certain, and the
safest coiurse is to believe its reality, when there is a profession of its
existence ; bu*t a man may be fervent in devotion who in action is guilty
of much which is culpable.
AECHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 231
youiicfer than Edward, and that of Eichard II., who was chap.
. . Ill
not much older. This, however, was a period of change, A — -
and f Luther alterations were suggested in the service. But craumer.
I suspect that, after the publication of the programme — 1533-06.
which is given in his '' Eecords " by Burnet ex libro
concilii — the council determined to adhere more closely
than was at first designed to the ancient order. Certainly
it is not correct to state, as Burnet does, that a new form
was ordered to be drawn, unless mere omissions made it
such. The account of the coronation which is printed by
Strype from a MS. in the C. C. C. C. Library breaks off
abruptly ; but it does not follow that any of the ceremonies
deemed essential to the service were omitted. It is certain
that the king was anointed on his breast, on the soles of
his feet, on his elbows, on the wrists of his hands, and
on the crown of his head. A rich pall of red tinsel gold
being held over his head by some knights of the Garter,
the king " grovelled," as it is said, before the archbishop,
and lying prostrate, was anointed on his back. There
can be no reason for doubting that the usual investitures,
such as are to the present time observed, took place.
Seated on the chau' of Edward the Confessor, the young
king was crowned with three crowns. When the anointed
head of the sovereign was decorated by the crown of
England, each peer placed on his own head his coronet or
cap of state. But, while remarking that all essentials were
observed, we cannot justify Cranmer, even if he acted
under the advice of the Privy Council, for an unwarrant-
able change in the ceremonial, which had more of signifi-
cance at that period than it would have now. It had been
the invariable rule for the king to take an oath to preserve
the liberties of the Church and realm, especially those
of the time of Edward the Confessor, before the people
were asked whether they would consent to have him
232 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, for tlieir king ; but, on the present occasion, not only
- ^-^ did tlie address to the people precede the oath of the
Crannier. ^iug, biit in that address they were reminded that he held
i533-5ri. ]iis crown by descent, and that it was their duty to sub-
mit to his rule.* Up to this period, althougli the crown
of England was held to be hereditary, the people retained
the power to reject the immediate heir, though, when
once he was anointed, obedience and loyalty to him be-
came an act of duty in all his subjects. There was no
pretender to the throne at tiiis time to be feared ; but the
evident intention was to meet the objection, sometimes
urged, that obedience was not due to a king who was a
minor, Tliis difficulty it was attempted to meet by as-
serting that the king claimed the crown by descent ; and
tliat by right of inheritance he was in possession of all the
prerogatives which that descent implied ; nothing being
added to his rights by the mere ceremony of the corona-
tion. It is said that instead of a sermon, the archbishop
delivered an address to the young king on the duties of
liis office. This con-cio ad unum was in accordance with
the feelings of the age and with the sentiments of Cranmer
in particular ; but I more than doubt whether the speecli
attributed to Cranmer on this occasion is genuine. It
partakes too much of the character of a later generation,
and was evidently invented to give something like a Pro-
testant tone to proceedings which, as adhering strictly
to Catholic precedent, were peculiarly offensive to the
Puritan mind.f
The very feeling which induced Cranmer and the Privy
Council to keep out of view the popular origin of sove-
* Fcedera, vii. 158. Burnet, ii. Append. G3.
t It was first published in " Foxes and Firebrands," bj Robeii "Wace,
■wlio professes to have found it among Archbishop Usher's papers. The
MS. is nowhere to be discovered.
ARCHBISIIOrS OF CAXTEEBUEY. 233
reignty, and assume the divine right of kings to rest upon chap.
liereditary chiims, prompted them also to attend to all the - — ^ — -
minutiai of the ancient ceremonial when the young king cranmer.
publicly assumed his office. The procession from the 1533-56.
Tower to the Palace of Westminster was of the most
magnificent description. None of the vestments of the
clergy were set aside. The suffragans of Canterbury, all
mitred and in rich copes, walked two and two, attended
by their apparitors and chaplains, preceding Archbishop
Cranmer, wlio walked alone. Over his scarlet rochet
Cranmer wore an embroidered cope, the train of which
was borne by gentlemen of his household ; the mitre upon
his head was resplendent with jewels ; before him was
borne erect his crosier, the cross of Canterbury. At the
abbey door they were met by the clergy of the abbey, with
the members and cliildren of their choir and those of the
chapel royal, then as now arrayed in scarlet tunics be-
neath their surplices or albs. When the homage was done.
Archbishop Cranmer himself sang the mass of the Holy
Ghost, the choir accompanying him, and the " organs
playing." At the elevation of the host, Archbishop Cranmer
paused, and the Lord Chancellor read a general pardon
granted by King Henry VIII. to all who had offended
before the 28tli of January.
After the king had received the Holy Sacrament he
again "grovelled" before the archbishop, and Cranmer
intoned the Veni Creator and sio;ned the kins^ with the
sign of the cross.
I have mentioned these circumstances to impress it still
further on the reader's mind that although at the accession
of Ed.ward VI. Cranmer was a reformer, yet he was not
even yet a Protestant. Although he was now enquiring
into, and although he did soon after renounce, the dogma of
transubstantiation, he certainly held it at this period. No
234 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, one has ever accused Cranmer of hypocrisy ; he acted
■^ — r^ — ' honestly on his convictions. If indeed he had held the
Cranmer. opinions of the Sacramcntarians, he would have been
1533-56. supported by the Protector, and it is not improbable that
a majority of the council woidd have permitted the coro-
nation to have proceeded with the omission of the mass.
The legislation of the Protector, at the commencement
of his pohtical career, was generous, liberal, and such as
must commend itself to the sympathy of the nineteenth
century. The repeal of the statute of the six articles was
a matter of course. It had done its work, and the result
was favourable to Protestantism. It had, in the hands of
Henry, restrained those excesses on the part of Protestants
Avhich were exasperating the country against them ; it
had fired the indignation of the Protestants themselves,
who complained, though in murmurs, of the hardships
to which they were exposed ; it excited the sympathy
of many who, lirst influenced by sympathy, became after-
wards partizans ; and there was no one prepared to entrust
to the Protector the powers it conferred. If, indeed,
they had been conferred upon- him, he would have been
the first to repudiate them. The acts of Henry IV. and
Henry V. against Lollards were repealed ; although heresy,
whatever it was, remained by the common law of the land
an offence to be punished by burning. The authority of
parliament was re-established by the repeal of certain
tyrannical acts passed in the late and the penultimate
reign. The severity of Henry's vagrancy law was miti-
gated. When we compare the legislation and the acts of
the government in Edward's reign with those of Queen
Mary, we cannot fail to admire the mildness and leniency,
comparatively speaking, of both Somerset and Cranmer.
The more credit is due to them because for their lenity
they were despised by their enemies and censured by
ARCHBISnOPS OF CANTERBURY. 235
their friends. Calvin, in writing to the Protector, advises chap.
that not only those who adhere to " the superstition of the ^-- — '
Antichrist of Eome," but those also who " under colour Cranmer.
of the Gospel would set all in confusion," should be 1^33-56.
punished by the sword. In the attack made by Warwick
and his party upon the Protector, the miserable condition
of the country was attributed to the encouragement they
received from the well-known sympathy of Somerset with
the lower orders.
At the same time we must admit, that, although Cran-
mer and Somerset were both of them merciful in their ad-
ministration, they were nevertheless sufficiently despotic.
Although the statute of Henry Viil. which gave to royal
proclamations the force of parhamentary enactments was
repealed, it was not repealed until Cranmer obtained,
through its instrumentality, a power over his suffragans
and the Church in general, which was almost papal and
would have been intolerable if it had continued.
The fii^st thing that Cranmer did, was to take out a
licence from the king for the discharge of his duties as
metropolitan, and to require all his suffragans to do the
same. He had taken out a licence under Henry VIH.,
and they who had succumbed, as Gardyner and Bonner
had done, to the royal supremacy, could not consistently
oppose the measure.* Cranmer's poKcy is obvious. Being
at the head of the regency, and knowing that the Pro-
tector was prepared to go all lengths in the direction of
the Eeformation, the royal authority would be wielded by
him. The king or his representative who gave the
licence could withdraw it, and every bishop was thus
* Of this inconsistency GardjTier was gxxilty in a letter to Paget ;
but we must remember that it was a private letter, nullified soon
after by the fact that Gardyner appealed from his metropolitan to the
cotmcil.
236 LIVES OF THE
CH.iP. virtually placed under Cranmer's control, as some of tliem
III
> — ^ — ' were soon after made to feel.
Cranmer. ^^ is absurd to supposc, that this application for a licence
1533-50. was a denial of the Apostolical succession. It was indeed
about this very time that Cranmer became convinced, as we
gather from his Catechism, that the ApostoUcal succession
was necessary to constitute a minister or ambassador of
the King of kings. The licence merely related to certain
rights of jurisdiction. A lord chancellor, as we have before
remarked, becomes a barrister by one process and an officer
of the croAvn by another. When the sovereign consigns
to him the custody of the great seal, this act does not con-
stitute him a barrister ; that he was before, and unless he
had been a barrister previously, according to modern
custom, the great seal could not be confided to his cus-
tody. Before a man can exercise his functions as a clergy-
man he must be ordained ; before he can act as a bishop he
must be consecrated : the ordained man receives his living
from the layman to whom the advowson pertains ; to
the bishop a particular see is assigned through an election
overruled by the crown, or, as in Cranmer's time, and as
is still the case in the Church of L^eland, by the direct
nomination of the sovereign. What Cranmer contended
for was, that a bishop was removable by the crown, not
from his episcopal order, but from his diocese ; just as
a judge was removable, until the reign of George III., not
from the status of a barrister, but from the judicial bench.
It is necessary to recur to these elementary observations,
because the case is sometimes in ignorance or in malice
misrepresented. *
* Even Burnet admits what has been stated above: — "By these
letters patent it is clear that the episcopal function was acknowledged
to be of divine appointment, and that the person was no other way
named by the king than as lay patrons present to livings; only the
AECHBISHOPS OP CANTERBUEY. 237
It was on the same principle, that Cranmer sought to chap.
aboUsh the election of bishops. The government being ■ — ^ — -
weak, he thought that the deans and chapters might, in craumer.
some instances, brave the Prcemunire, and refuse to elect 1533-56.
the government nominee. He obtained, therefore, an act
of parliament which placed the Church of England in the
same position with respect to the appointment of bishops
in which the Church of Ireland and the Colonial Church
are placed at the present time. Instead of permitting the
deans and chapters to go through the form of election,
the appointment to a vacant see was to be made through
letters patent, on the receipt of which the metropohtan
was bound to consecrate. The permission to elect or the
cojige cVelire, has been subsequently restored to the Church
of England, though it is at present exercised as a form
and nothing more. It is wise, however, to cling to a form
which may hereafter be inspired with life. The cere-
monial opening of Convocation was, for many years, a mere
form, but by attending to the form, the Convocation was
prepared to act when that liberty of action, permitted to
aU other institutions, could no longer be held from the
Church of England. The time may come — much to be
deplored — when, in a revolutionary age, it may be the
duty of the English Church, in a popular movement, to
take a decided part against the crown, and nothing is to be
despised which gives to any institution the power of free
action.
The most decided measure taken by the government, on
the advice of Cranmer, was the formation of a commission
bishop was legally authorised, in such a part of the king's dominions,
to execute that function which was to be derived to him by imposition
of hands. Therefore here was no pretence for denying that such
persons were true bishops, and for saying, as some have done, that
they were not from Christ, but from the king." Burnet, ii. 4J:8.
238 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, with power to visit the entire Church of England, to report
« — r^ — ' on tlie state of rehgion, and to carry into effect the enact-
Cranmer. meuts of Convocation and Parhament, together with those
1533-56. injunctions of the crown which, in right of his presumed
lieadship, the king from time to time had issued. The
kingdom was divided into six circuits. To each circuit
certain commissioners were appointed, two gentlemen, a
civilian, a divine, and a registrar ; they were accompa-
nied by learned and pious preachers: Wliile the visitors
investigated the state of each parish and diocese, the
preachers were to instruct the people.*
The injunctions delivered by the commissioners in this
royal visitation of the Church are a valuable record of the
state of rehgion at this period, and they show how far the
reformation of the Chmxh had advanced. All deans, arch-
deacons, parsons, vicars, and other ecclesiastical persons
were to cause to be kept and observed all and singular
laws and statutes, made as well for the abolishing and ex-
tirpation of the Bishop of Eome, his pretended and usurped
power and jurisdiction, as for the establishment in the
" Church of England and Ireland " of the royal supremacy.
On tliis subject they were to preach at least four times in
* The clergy and cliurcli-n-arclens of St. Martin's, in Ironmonger
Lane, London, had in a tumultuous manner removed images and
defaced the pictures in their church. The Bishop of London, Dr.
Eonner, and the Lord Mayor complained of these proceedings of the
council. Cranmer reminded the council that Henry VIII. had decided
on the destruction of all images which had been superstitiously used,
and as it was difficult to determine Avhat images had been used super-
stitiously, he advised that the worship of images should be abolished
altogether. The judgment given was, that the parishioners should
provide another crucifix in the place of that which had been de-
stroyed ; but though the crucifix was allowed, no order was given
for the replacement of the other images. Burnet, iii. 16, 23 ; Strype,
Memorials, ii. 502-596.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 239
the year. They were forbidden to set forth or extol any chap.
imao-es, reUcs, or miracles, for any superstition or lucre, -— . — -
M • 1 1/^1 Thomas
or to encourage pilgrnnages to the same, that brocL Cranmer
only might be glorified and none other. One sermon at 1533-56
least every quarter was enjoined ; in this sermon men were
to be exhorted to works of faith, mercy, and honesty, and
to be warned against works devised by men's phantasies
"beside scripture," such as wandering to pilgrimages,
offering of money, candles, or tapers, or rehcs, or images,
or kissing or licking of the same, praying upon beads and
such like superstition. The clergy, and not private per-
sons, were to take down and destroy images that had been
censed unto, and they were not henceforth to suffer torches
or candles, or tapers, or images of wax, " to be set afore any
image or picture ; but only two lights upon the high altar
before the Sacrament, which for the signification that
Christ is the true light of the world, they might suffer to
remain still." When no sermon was preached, the Pater
Noster, the Credo, and the Commandments were to be re-
peated in English from the pulpit. Within three months
one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in En-
glish was to be provided in every church, and as a catholic
exposition of the same, a copy of Erasmus's " Paraphrase
of the Gospels." These the people were to be encouraged
to read. Every person who came to confession in Lent was
to be examined whether he could recite the Pater Noster,
the Credo, and the Commandments in English. Eegisters
for baptisms, marriages, and burials were to be duly kept,
together with a poor box for the reception of alms. Non-
resident clergymen were to devote a tenth of their income
to the poor of the parish ; and whoever had an income of
a hundred pounds a year was to maintain a poor scholar
at Oxford or Cambridge. In the time of high mass he
who said or sang the same, was to read or cause to be
240 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, read the epistle and gospel of that mass in English, and
^— ^-^ — - not in Latin, in the pulpit or in some place convenient
Cranmer. for hearing. Every Sunday and noly day, the clergy-
1533-56. nian was to read or cause to be read one chapter of the
New Testament at Matins in English, and, at Even-song
after the Magnificat, one chapter of the Old Testament.
To avoid all contention and strife, wliicli was frequently
occasioned by those who sought precedence in processions,
and to enable people to hear distinctly what might be
said to their edifying, they were not henceforth to use
any procession about the church or churchyard or any
other place ; but immediately before high mass, the priests
with other of the choir were to kneel in the midst of the
church and sing or say plainly and distinctly the Litany
as it was set forth in English. All shrines, covering of
shrines, all tables, candlesticks, trindles or rolls of wax,
pictures, paintings, and all other monuments of feigned
miracles, privileges, idolatry, and superstition were to
be taken away and destroyed. Because in some places,
through lack of preachers, the people continued in igno-
rance and blindness, certain homilies were provided, one
of which each non-preaching curate was to read every
Sunday. It will be recollected that in the Convocation
of 1542 order was taken that homilies, with this object
in view, should be composed. It appears that under the
dkection of the primate twelve sermons were prepared,
and were now published. These form the book called
in the thirty-nine articles, " The former Book of Homihes."
They were for the most part of a practical nature ; but
they had also, according to Dr. Corrie, a direct reference
to the doctrinal errors and Antinomian practices of the
various sects which passed under the name of Anabaptist.*
We hear so much in the history of this period of
* Wilkins, iv. ii. 1417. Records. Collier, ii. 59.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CA^^TERBURY. 241
certain men ensrac-ed in 'the affairs of the world, and chap.
* , . . III.
while upholding religious opinions not always animated ^ — -
by Christian principles or sentiment, that it is necessary cramrer.
to remind tlie reader occasionally that the great, either 1533-56.
in virtue or in vice, form the exceptional few ; and it is
pleasant occasionally to catch the tone of feeling in
humbler and in common Hfe. We have it affirmed by
an unexceptional witness that " the mass of the people
were at this time tractable, obedient and quiet, and of
such a nature that they may easily be brought to do
anytliing that is for God's glory and the king's honour." *
For such a people these injunctions were well adapted,
and everyone must be struck with the moderation and
sound judgment by which they were dictated.
Although we are by no means prepared to say that if
a reformation was to be effected, the measures to which
attention has just been called were not necessary ; and
although we are perfectly ready to admit th^it at a revo-
lutionary period, we must not reduce everything to the
ordinary standard of right and wrong, such as is received
in ordinar}^ times, yet, on the other hand, Ave are not to
censure those who, suffering under the oppression of men
in power, denounce their measures as despotic, and feel
justified in resisting what, upon received principles, can
only admit of palliation by being regarded as exceptions
to a general rule. The opposition to Somerset, and espe-
cially to Cranmer, was headed by the Bishop of Win-
chester, Dr. Gardyner ; and it would have been more
formidable than it was, if Gardyner, had possessed the
peculiar talent which enables some men to form a party
and to inspire it with confidence. Gardyner was not
calculated to act as a leader. But anyone who reads
* Jolui Hales to tlie Lord Protector. Sfcito Paper Office, July 24.
1548. Tjtler, i. 113.
VOL. VU. K
242 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, his histoiT "vvitli candour will concur in the opinion that,
TTT
-^ -^ - his conduct throuohout the reio;n of Edward VI. was
Cranmer. ODi the wholo dignified and praiseworthy. He assumed
1533-56. the position taken on one occasion by Cranmer himself:
he contended that no alterations or innovations ought to
be made in the Church or the services of the Church, so
long as the king remained a minor. Having been brought
before the council and questioned, he promised to offer
no factious opposition to the commissioners when they
visited the diocese of Winchester ; but he found fault with
the doctrine both of the Homilies and of the Paraplirase
of Erasmus, and at the same time he declined to promise
that he would carry out or enforce the injunctions.
Private friends entreated him to concur in the proposed
reformation of the Church ; a bribe was offered to him
of being admitted to a seat in the Privy Council ; the
archbishop discussed witli him in private and corre-
sponded Avith him ; but Gardyner remained firm to his
principle. He would maintain all things in Church and
State as they had been left by his aahsc old master, until
the kiuE!; came of asre to act for himself.
"lam by nature," he said, " akeady condemned to
die, which sentence no man can pardon, nor assure me of
delay in the execution of it ; and to see that of necessity
I shall leave my bishopric to the disposition of the crown,
from whence I had it, my household also to break up,
and my bringing up youth to cease, the remembrance
whereof troubleth me notiiing. I made in my house at
London a pleasant study that delighted me much, and
yet I was glad to come into the country and leave it ; and
as I have left the use of somewhat, so can I leave the use
of all to obtain more quiet ; it is not loss to cliange for
the better."
Finding him, however, impracticable, the Council com-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 243
mitted him, about three weeks before the visitation of his chap.
diocese, to the Fleet prison for contempt of court. The - — ,-1-^
warden of the Fleet was liis friend, and, although Gar- cranm'!^.
dyner complained and made the most of his hardships, 1533-06.
the only real hardship to Vv'hich he was subjected was
that he was under surveillance. We find him dining
with the Dean of St. Paul's, and there meeting the arch-
bishop and other prelates, having been, invited to discuss
amicably the great doctrine of Justification by Faith only —
the doctrine now asserted in the Homilies and to which
he was vehemently opposed. After the visitation of liis
diocese, and when certain bills had passed through par-
liament, Vvdiich it was presumed that he would have
opposed, the Bishop of Winchester was permitted to
return to his diocese. Here he conducted himself with
great decorum : he was active in the discharge of his
duties, munificent in his charities, and so cautious in
his proceedings, that no one could accuse him with any
show of justice of having offered a factious opposition
to the government.*
Cranmer, however, became aware that the Eeforma-
tion could not be carried on effectually, if a statesman so
experienced and resolute as Gardyner remained at large.
Recourse was therefore had to a measure whicli had been
fatal to others. The Bishop of Winchester was required
to preach before the king on St, Peter's Day. Secretary
Cecil gave him his subject, warning him what he should
say, and what he should not say, the object being to
compel him to recognise the authority of the council.
The sermon did not give satisfaction, and the bisliop was
committed to the Tower on the day following, and there
he remained a state prisoner till the end of this reign.
* Strype, ii. 71.
244 LIVES OF TUE
CHAP. Several attempts were made to bring him to terms ; but
. L,J - at length tlie council having, in the exercise of the Eoyal
(>anmer Prerogative, the authority of withdrawing the Episcopal
1533-56. licence, first sequestered his bishopric, and then declared
it vacant. Let us hope, and we may believe, that with
this act of gross injustice Cranmer was not concerned.
He did not shrink from recourse to measures which
would render Gardyner impotent to oppose the Reforma-
tion ; but the object of the council in seizing his bishopric
Avas to divide tlie spoils among themselves. Tliey ap-
pointed Poynet to be the successor of Gardyner, and this
was a transaction which brings disgrace upon the Eefor-
mation, not more for the deed itself, than for the manner
in which the partizans of Protestantism have defended it.
Poynet was a very learned man, an eloquent and powerful
advocate of ultra-protestantism, though ready to yield when
it was his interest to do so. At one time he must have
been a consummate hypocrite, for we cannot otherwise
account for his having been made chaplain to a man so
good, earnest, and upright as Archbishop Cranmer. He
was an immoral and low man, who was at last so lost to
all sense of shame that he lived in open adultery with a
butcher's w^ife ; and was compelled legally to separate by
the ecclesiastical courts and to pay an annuity to the
woman's husband.* The extent of his profligacy was only
* " On tLe 27th of July, 1551, Poynet, tlie Bishop of Winchester,
■was divorced from his wife in Paul's, the -which was a butcher's wife,
of Nottingham, and gave her husband a certain simi of money a year
during his life, as was judged by the laAV." Grey Friars Chron. 70.
The same is repeated by Maclyn in his diaiy. Poynet was, with
the exception of his chaplain. Bale, one of the most foul-mouthed of men.
Strype, I am sorry to say, eulogizes him, and says that " he was one
of the episcopal order in this reign that cordially favoured religion."
Aleniorials, II. ii. 166. He elsewhere speaks in his praise. To uj^hold
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBURY. 245
known to an interested few, when lie was appointed to chap.
the see of Winchester ; until which time he had played the
hypocrite's part. That he was, however, an unprincipled
man the Council must have known, for he agreed to
reserve two thousand marks for himself, and divided the
rest of the temporalities among those greedy coiurtiers
whose zeal for the Eeformation was of the same character
as his own. Such was the man appointed to succeed
Gardyner, who, with all his faults — and they ^^ ere many
— was a stern man of strict morality, and a man of
learning in the law though not in divinity, and a gentle-
man.
The Bishop of London, Dr. Bonner, was a man very
different from Bishop Gardyner, and the government had
the more difficulty in dealing with him, because he was
one of those unprincipled men who find delight
To palter with us in a double sense :
To keep the word of promise to the ear,
And break it to our hope.
That Cranmer expected to win Bonner to his side is to
be inferred from the fact of his inserting in the book of
Homilies still in use, a sermon from Bonner's own pen ;
and as no one had been more zealous than Bonner in the
late reign in upholding the Eoyal supremacy and in oppo-
sing all Papal aggression, the expectation was by no means
unreasonable. But Bonner took the position which had
been assumed by Gardyner : namely, that until the kino-
came of age, all things were to remain in statu quo — even
as they had been left by Henry. In vain did Cranmer
argue, even from facts known to both of these prelates,
such characters from party considerations is to prefer party feeling to
the claims of morality.
24C LIVES OF THE
CHAP, that Henry had designed further reforms. They main-
■ — r-'— tained tliat the supremacy was a branch of tlie prerogative
Craumer. inalienable from the person of the king. Edward in his
15J3-56. mmority, it was said, could not exercise it ; neither could
he delegate it to the councih They were not insane
enough, as they are sometimes supposed to have been,
to contend that all legislation must cease during the
minority ; but they simply asserted that in matters of
religion the Eegency had no powder to act. There could
be no hardship, they said, in letting things remain for a
few years as they were left by their wise old master ; and
this concession they demanded. The council overruled
their objections : they ruled that the Court they formed
had jurisdiction in things spiritual. If the two prelates
denied this they ^vere to be committed to prison for
contempt of court. Gardyner consistently maintained liis
position, and remained, as we should now say, within the
rules of the Tower, — for his imprisonment amounted to
little more than this. But Bonner, less honourable and
straightforward, after he had been committed to the
Fleet for contempt, recanted and was released. He was
a man wdio delighted in the kind of cleverness which
distinguishes a pettifogging attorney : lie found pleasure
in placing himself almost within the power of his
enemies, and of then extricating himself by some dex-
terous evasion. He only offered to all the measures of
liis metropolitan and the Government a passive resistance.
When the English service was ordered, he did not oppose
its introduction into his diocese, although in English he
would never himself officiate. He did not attack those
who conformed, although he patronised nonconformists.
■ He evaded every law in every possible way, and yet defied
his enemies to prove that lie had transgressed it. He
was known to be the encourager of insurrectionary move-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 247
ments, and was in some way supposed to be implicated
in the manoeuvres of Lord Seymour, the admiral. A
more annoying opponent it was not easy to find ; and at
leno-th it was determined to remove him. This was done
with that appearance of justice which so often disgraced
the despotic acts of an age, when men found satisfaction,
while violating the spirit, in observing the letter of the
law. He was first confined as a prisoner in his own
house, and he was required at the same time to perform
all the functions of his ofiice appointed by law. He was
directed to preach a sermon at Paul's Cross ; in this ser-
mon he was to consign to damnation all persons rebelling
atrainst their Sovereif^n Lord, whatever their relierious
persuasion may have been. He was to declare that Divine
worship consisted in prayer to God, and that all other
forms and ceremonies might be abrogated or changed at
the will of the magistrate ; and that if any man used,
therefore, the Latin service when the English was ordered,
the merit of his action was cancelled by the sin of his
disobedience. He was to dwell especially upon the king's
authority in afiairs of the Church, as well as of the State,
during the minority. These were extreme opinions, and
it was probably supposed, that the Bishop would at once
have refused to occupy the pulpit. This was not Bonner's
mode of acting. He undertook to preach. An immense
congregation gathered round Paul's Cross. On all the
topics he was said to have been unsatisfactory, and he
entirely omitted the last head, having, he regretted to say,
somehow or other, mislaid his notes. On these grounds
he was denounced to the government by no less a person
than John Hooper, a man as ready to be burnt as he was
to burn. Of Hooper w^e have remarked before, that
he was an obstinate and disputatious, though a munificent
and pious man. He caused no little trouble to Cranmer,
248 LIVES OF THE
CH.\p. when, contrary to Cranmer's wishes, he was preferred to
in. ^ J ' i
- — r-'- — the see of Gloucester. He was doubtless employed as
Thomas , , ,. , . . ,
Cranmer. the Spy or public prosccutor on tins occasion ; and on
1533-56. his report, a commission was issued to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, to Bishop Eidley, and the two Secretaries
of State to sit in trial upon Bonner. The result was, that
the Bisliop of London was committed to the Marshalsea
for contempt of court. In October he was deprived of
his bishopric ; and to the see of London Cranmer's friend
and adviser, Bishop Eidley, was translated.* Although
tlie conduct of Cranmer, abstractedly considered, was in
these instances unjust and despotic, yet when we bear in
mind the cruelties of wdiich Crumwell was guilty Avhen
enforcing the act of supremacy, and the still greater
cruelties of Queen Mary's reign, we must admit that
Cranmer did not, in the plenitude of his power, forfeit his
character as a humane man ; and we may claim this
character for him the more powerfully, since his disin-
clination to persecute was attributed by the foreign refor-
mers to lukewarmness, on his part, in the cause of the
Eeformation.
The excesses of the Eeformers caused but little annoy-
ance to such ministers as Somerset and Northumberland.
They seemed to justify these statesmen in the adoption
of measures which enabled them to pay their supporters
and enrich themselves through the forfeiture of eccle-
siastical property.
* There appears to have been some jobbing about the estates, but I
think that the biographer and namesake of Ridley clearly proves that
Ridley only exchanged some lands of the see of London for lands
equivalent of the suppressed see of "Westminster. The see of London
was benefited by the exchange. Bishop Ridley was so decided in his
condemnation of church jobbery, that it was not likely that he should
be guilty of it himself.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 249
Even the emotional religion of Somerset evaporated
towards the close of his life, and he was accused of
ha^ang relapsed into carelessness. When Northumber-
land was in the ascendant, and Somerset was not likely 1533-06.
any longer to share in the spoils if the Church were
ruined, the reforming zeal of Somerset appears to have
cooled.
Northumberland, the cleverer man of the two, was also
the more unscrupulous. He was evidently a man of no
religious principle at that period of his life when religion,
if a reality, is a principle rather than a sentiment. If we
believe his own confession, he became an advocate of re-
formation from motives base and sordid ; and — perhaps
still dissembling in the hope of a possible pardon to the
last — he died an avowed papist.
Edward VI. was a youth of precocious talents, whom
Somerset and Northumberland, for their own purposes,
surrounded with Puritans. Through their influence he
was prepared to carry out the Puritan notions to their
extreme point, the object of the two statesmen being to
find some plausible excuse for seizing upon the spoils of
the Church. The young king's mind was framed like
that of his sister Mary. There can be, he would say,
as she was accustomed to say, only a right and a wrong ;
let those who are right be encouraged, let those who are
wrong be restrained, and if they propagate their errors,
be burned.*
In what related to the actual reformation of the
Church, Cranmer was left by the Gallios of the council
to act upon his own judgment, and he consulted the con-
vocation. Somerset and Northumberland found it to be
their policy to side with the ultra-Protestants, and to
* It was thus he ai-gued on the subject of image-worship.
250 LIVES OF THE
CH.iP. allow them to believe that the temporal members of the
^—7-- — ' council could f?o much farther, if impediments were not
Thomas » , ' ^
Cranmer. offered to their proceedings by Cranmer. The probability
1 033-06. jg ^i^g^^ ^l^-g ^^.^g ^ mere pretext, and that they perceived
that the work of reformation was going on fast enough, if
the peace of the country was to be preserved. They were
not persons who could have permitted themselves to be
restrained by the archbishop if their interests lay in the
opposite direction.
It is now necessary to return to our review of the
various reformations which were at this time effected.
Of Cranmer himself we must be permitted to say, that
sufficient allowance is, in these days, hardly made for the
difficulties of his position. Only coldly supported, indeed
clandestinely opposed, by a government greedy to enrich
its members through the spoliation of the Church ; ap-
pealed to through all the influences to which a kind
heart is open by men whom he wished to please, but
with whose opinions he only partially sympathised ;
having no theological principle to guide him, though
fully aware of the necessity of a reformation ; with no
compass to direct him how to steer the Church in the
midst of the wild uproar of discordant sentiments, he
was so situated that we ought to be sure of our owm
steadfastness of purpose before we are unduly severe
in our judgment; and the severity of our judgment
must, under any circumstances, be mitigated when we
remember that Cranmer did not himself seek, but was
forced by circumstances into, a position, in which it
was difficult to decide how to advance, or wdiether to
recede.
One thing, however, is certain, tJiat before the accession
of Edward VI., Cranmer had perceived that it -was impos-
sible to remain stationary. He steadily, though cau-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 251
tiously, persevered in carrying out the measures already chap.
devised but kept in abeyance in the Lite king's reign. — -^— -
One measure, indeed, woukl probably have met with Cranmer.
the disapproval of Henry ; and that was a measure nearest io33-o6.
to Cranmer's heart. He obtained from Convocation,
though not without some opposition, a vote that all such
canons, law^s, statutes, decrees, usages, and customs hereto-
fore had or used, which forbade the marriage of the clergy
should be utterly void and of none effect. A majority
of fifty-three voted in the affirmative, thirty-two against
it. It was remarked that even of the minority many
entered into the holy estate of matrimony, when the mar-
riage of priests became legal. Their concubines pro-
bably insisted on marriage when marriage was allowable.*
There was greater difficulty in procuring the consent of
the laity to the marriage of the clergy ; and it is a re-
markable fact that, for two generations at least, a strong
prejudice continued to exist in favour of clerical celibacy.
The vulgar insolence with w^hich Queen Elizabeth treated
the wife of Archbishop Parker is well known ; and is
such as no one would have ventured to perpetrate, except
a crowned head.
Immediately after the vote of convocation in favour of
the marriage of the clergy, a biU was introduced into
parliament having for its object to declare the legality of
such marriages. It was read, indeed, three times in the
House of Commons, but the large minority who formed
the opposition procured the prorogation of the House
of Lords before the bill could pass into a law. The
synodical decision not having obtained the force of statute
law, the subject was again brought under the notice of
Convocation in the year 1548, when " it was thoroughly
* Strype, 156. Wilkins, iv. 16. Collier, n. 226.
252 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, debated and thoroughly sifted." The majority in favour of
w_,J — - the marriage of the clergy had, during the recess, advanced
Cranmer. fi'om fifty-tlirec to scventy in the lower house. A ma-
1533-56. jority was also obtained in the upper house of convoca-
tion. There was still a party in the House of Commons
opposed to any concession to the clergy ; but at last an
act of parliament was obtained " to take away all positive
laws made against the marriage of priests."
The archbishop now sent for his wife, and, in his happy
reiniion with his family, he exposed himself to the com-
plaint that he had become indolent, and that he was not
sufficiently attentive to public affairs. This charge w^as
more easily made than proved. Cranmer's mind was
employed on the great work to which his attention had
been for some time directed. He had determined on that
revision of the ancient devotional offices of the Church
which commenced in the reign of Henry YIH. and
resulted in converting the Use of Sarum — its missal and
its breviary — into the Book of Common Prayer. The
Prayer Bocks revised and arranged in the reign of
Edward YI. are not identically the same as the Book of
Common Prayer now in use, or the Ee vision of 1661.
But to the liturgical reformers of the reign of Charles H.
Cranmer and his associates were, what to Cranmer and the
reformers of Edward YI.'s reign were Osmond, the great
Bishop of Salisbury, and the compilers of the Use of
Sarum.
Cranmer was beginning to see that all the controversies
of the day hinged upon the doctrine of the Eucharist.
The Eomanising party in our Church desired to retain
the mass, the reforming party to convert the mass into
a communion. We have already stated to the reader the
merits of the case ; and as a first step to hturgical reform,
or to a revision of the missal, so as to make it a com-
ARCHBISnOPS OP CANTERBURY. 253
munion office, certain queries on the subject of the chap.
Eucharist were addressed to a committee of the bishops ^ : .
and deans, preparatory to legislation on the subject. Cranmer.
The answer to the queries which are still extant show 1533-06.
that both parties knew the purpose for which they were
questioned, and made their answers to bear upon the
main subject.*
The subject of the Eucharist was brought under discus-
sion in the upper house, soon after the meeting of
Convocation ; and on the 20th of November 1547, it was
submitted for discussion to the lower house. Everything
had been previously arranged. If there were to be a
communion whenever the Eucharist was celebrated ; if
portions of the service, as it had been already settled, were
to be in English ; if the people were to receive in both
kinds ; then some alteration in the missal would be abso-
lutely necessary. On the veiy day, therefore, that the
subject of the Eucharist was formally discussed in the
lower house of convocation, it is recorded " that Air. Pro-
locutor exhibited and caused to be read publicly, the
form of a certain ordinance determined upon by the
Most Eeverend the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury for
receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, under both
kinds, viz. bread and wine. This the Prolocutor Arch-
deacon Gwent himself subscribed with the other members
of the liouse." f
The next session was on the 2nd of December, when a
synodical decree on this important point was carried
without a dissentient voice. The lower house, numbering
* The queries and the answers are to be found in the Stillingfleet
MSS., Lambeth, 1108, fol. They are pubHshcd in Cranmer's Eemains,
ii. 178-181. They are too long for transcription here, but they are
worthy of perusal to those who are studying the doctrine of the Eucharist.
f Strype, 156.
254 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, sixty-four * members, " did approve the proposition made
■ ■ — ' in the last session of taking the Lord's body in both kinds
Thomas i i • i -n
Cranmer. " nullo reclamante." The archbishop, still true to his
1533-06. pj.ji-^pipig Qf opposing the Protestant as well the Popish
extreme, had almost simultaneously introduced into the
House of Lords a bill which denounced in the strongest
terms, the irreverent and profane language apphed out of
doors to the Holy Sacrament, and inflicting penalties on
the offenders. The administration of the Eucharist in
both kinds was authorised. This bill was read a
second time on the 3rd of December. On the 27tli
of December a proclamation was issued in the king's
name forbidding all contentions on the subject " until
such time as tJie king's Majesty, by the advice of his
Highness' Council and fhe clergy of this realm, shall
define, set forth, and declare an open doctrine thereof."
The decree of Convocation — ratified by parliament and
the Crown — that the Sacrament should be received in
both kinds by all communicants, had necessitated, as we
have observed, an alteration in the missal ; and to effect
this object, a royal commission had been issued, consisting
of the Committee of Convocation appointed in 1543 to
revise the offices of tlie Church and some others.f The
Commission met at Windsor Castle, and were empowered
* The number sixty-four being mentioned, we may perhaps infer that
the members of tlie opposition stayed away. We cannot otherwise
account for an unanimous decision on a subject upon which opinions
must have been divided.
•j" In the Convocation of 1547, a requisition was sent from the lower
house to the archbishop to the effect that the labours of the committee
appointed in 1543 to revise the services of the Church might be laid
before the synod. Wilkins, iv. 15. The subject of Prayer Book
reform had been for some time before the public. There was a good
imderstanding between the Church and the State through Cranmer's
position at the head of the regency. Heylin, i. 118.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBrRY. 255
to " consult about a uniform order for administering the chap.
Holy Communion in the English tongue, under both '^;^
kinds, of bread and wine." Cranmer.
The revision of our liturgical and other sacred books ^^^s-oe.
is a subject of such great importance that I shall enter
rather fully upon the subject ; and it becomes my duty
to do so, because, without having the facts of the case
before us, it is impossible to understand the conduct of
Cranmer and his fellow-labourers ; what they did, and
what they forbore to attempt. The reader who would
do justice to the historical facts to be brought under his
notice must bear in mind that our Prayer Book dates
not from the era of the Eeformation but from the year
1085. The reformers of the sixteenth century already
possessed a prayer book in the " Use of Sarum," and the
commission already mentioned Avas not appointed to
compose or to compile a new Prayer Book. It consisted
of men too wise and too modest to make an attempt
so absurd. Their business was simply to revise the
Prayer Book then in use ; to adapt it to the altered cir-
cumstances of the Church, to compare it with Scripture
and with primitive practice, to abbreviate it, to re-
arrange it, and to erase those superstitious additions to
the original forms which could not fail to have crept in,
when no Act of Uniformity existed, and when ever}^
bishop, almost every priest, even if substantially adopting
the Use of Sarum, might, according to his caprice or his
carelessness, make alterations in the formularies. That
the reformers of the sixteenth century did their work
well, the voice of three centuries has declared. Some
persons may .think they were too free in their erasures,
others may complain of their additions from foreign
sources. But when we find that their work was adopted
with a few alterations by our reformers in the reign
25G LIVES OF THE
CHAP, of Queen Elizabeth ; and again by our reformers in the
- ^ - reign of Charles II., by whom was completed our present
CranmeJ. Book of Comniou Prayer, we shall be prepared to accord
io33-&6. to them the praise which is justly their due. We shall
give them credit for the exercise of a sound judgment,
combined with a resolute determination to employ their
common sense in the rejection of unscriptm-al error how-
ever long established, and in the restoration of primi-
tive truth however long neglected. As they reformed
without revolutionising the Church, so they revised the
ancient Liturgy without substituting a composition of
their ow^n. Although the exercise of much practical
wisdom was required in their revision of services to
which the people were attached, the reformers of the
sixteenth century in point of fact did little ; and because
they did not establish anything new, because they had
no occasion to give minute directions, because they took it
for granted that the people for whom they legislated
would do as tliey always had done except w^hen expressly
forbidden to do so, because, especially in rubrical direc-
tions, they were not enjoining new proceedings but regu-
lating old practices, w^e are, at the present time, involved
in some difficulties. We are referred to what was the
usual practice of their age, and of the ages which preceded
them in the existing Church ; but unfortunately our
Church was proscribed and its ritual was suspended for
nearly a generation at the time of the great rebellion.
AVhat, in the sixteenth centuiy, had been traditional prac-
tices, which the reformers assumed would be continued,
iiad in the interval ceased to be observed. The reformers
in Charles II. 's time had to begin de novo^ but were hardly
aware of their position. The divines who at that time
revised the Prayer Book were most of them elderly men
wiio had been brought up under the old traditions ; and
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 257
they forgot, too often, that they were legislating for a chap.
generation not habituated to the ancient liturgy. To --^ — ^ — -
them the rubrics required explanation, and the expla- cranmer,
nations given were not always sufficiently explicit. 1533-06.
If we place in the hands of a sporting man a breech-
loader, some few explanations might be necessary to
show him how it should be used, but the explanations
AYOuld be few, and he would know at once how to
handle his weapon ; but if we place such a gun in
the hands of one unaccustomed to the use of fire-arms,
we should have to descend to minute particulars in the
one instance, which would be ridiculous, because simply
unnecessary, in the other.
The reader who has attended the author throuo-h the
preceding volumes of this work, when the Church of
England, into which all the other Churches in Britain
gradually merged, was first established, will remember
that our great founder Augustine found considerable
difficulty in arranging the offices of his church. This
was occasioned by a fact of which, when he started on
his missionary labours, he was ignorant ; namely, that
although all liturgies bore a strong resemblance in all
substantial one to another, yet the several liturgies, all of
them differing more or less from the Eoman, were adopted
in different churches.
By writers who have devoted their time and attention
to liturgical subjects, the ancient liturgies are arranged
under four general heads or families, and to one of these
primitive or apostolic forms, although different churches
had their own peculiarities, the origin of their liturgical
forms was to be traced. They are as follows : — The liturgy
of St. James, or of Antioch, from which the Eussian liturgy
of the present time is derived; the hturgy of St. Mark, or
Alexandria, which is the origin of the Eg}^tian hturgy ;
VOL. VII. S
258 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, the litiu'jn^ of St. Peter, the basis of tlie Roman rite ; the
III
v- — ,- — - hturgy of St. John, or of Ephesus, wliich, under certain
Cranmer. modifications, bcfore and since the Reformation, has been
1533-56. the foundation of the ordinance as administered in the
Church of England, having come into England from
France. This liturgy of St. John, used throughout the
episcopate of Ephesus, where St. John took up his abode
during the later years of his life, passed over into Spain
and Gaul, and so to the far West, and is known as the Galil-
ean liturgy. With this liturgy we were doubly connected,
because it was not only the liturgy of the British Church
antecedently to the coming of Augustine, but also of the
Normans. Augustine found this liturgy used in the church
of St. Martin's, Canterbury, where Bertha, the queen of
Ethelbert, had been accustomed to worship ; and the
British Christians carried the rite with them into Wales.
Augustine had met with the Galilean or Epheslan Hturgy
before he arrived in Enijland, and beino- himself a
simple-minded man, he w^as perplexed by its divergence
from the Eoman liturgy, with which only he had been
acquainted. On consulting Gregory the Great, Augustine
was advised to proceed upon that principle upon which all
who have subsequently revised our liturgical offices have
been accustomed to act. Although Augustine was at
first acquainted only ^vit]l the customs of the Eoman
Church, In which he had been educated, yet Gregory's
advice to him was.
— " if you find anything in the Eoman, in the Galilean, or in any
other Church which may be acceptable to Almighty God, you
should carefully make choice of the same, and sedulously teach
the Church of the English, which is at present new in the faith,
whatever you gather from the other Churches. For things are
not to be loved for the sake of places ; hut places for the sake of
good things. Select, therefore, from each Church those things
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURV. 259
which are pious, religious, and correct, and having, as it were, CHAP.
made them up into one body, instil this into the minds of the ^^J-
English for their use." * Thomas
Cranracr.
These were the wise and catholic principles adopted i'533-56.
by the founder of our Church ; and when, in the process
of time, before the printing-press existed, the old forms
were corrupted, these were the wise and catholic prin-
ciples upon which our reformers were careful to act.
These principles found an advocate in Archbishop Theo-
dore, to whom the early English Church looked as a second
founder, and who was naturally inclined to Orientalism.
The Eoman rite was thus not exclusively adopted in the
early English Church, much attached to it though the
Italian missionaries naturally were. The tendency was to
form an amalgamation of the Eoman, the Gallican, and the
Eastern elements, which, however, was not effected until
the great liturgical reformation under Osmund, Bishop of
Salisbury, was accomplished.
The orderly mind of Osmund, with whom the reader of
these volumes is alread}' familiar, was shocked at the pre-
valent want of uniformity in the services of the Church
of England, and especially in the province of Canterbury.
He attempted lo consolidate and remodel the services for
his own church at Salisbury, so as to render them the
model accordin£T to which the services in other dioceses
might be arranged. f His object Avas the same as that of
the reformers of the sixteenth century, not to form a new
* Bede, i. 27. Gregor. ii. 1151. A remarkable proof of our early
connexion with the Gallican Church is to be found in the number
of French saints in our calendar. The reader who would pursue this
subject further, is referred to Sir William Palmer's Orig. Liturgies?,
sect. 1, and to Neale and Forbes' Gallican'Liturgies.
t On account of Osmund'.s liturgical fame, the Bishop of Salisbury
received the office he still retains of Prascentor to the Province of
Canterbury.
260 LIVES OF THE
CH.VP. ritual but to revise tlie old. So successful were the labours
V L^J - of St. Osmund, that although his Use was not avowedly
Cranmen adoptcd iu cvcrj otlicr dioccse, yet there was no diocese
1533-56. in which the influence of his example could not be traced.
There were the Uses of Lincoln, Hereford, and Bangor.
In St. Paul's Cathedral, and probably throughout the
diocese of London, there was an independent Use till the
fifteenth century ; and in the province of York it was only
in the diocese of Durham that the " Salisbury Use " was
followed. Nevertheless this discrepancy was more in ap-
pearance than in reality. There were provincials unwilling
to sacrifice local customs to which they had been habituated
and attached ; and others there were who felt a pride in
asserting their independence ; but the differences here
related chiefly to unimportant matters of detail, while the
general resemblance to the " Sarum Use " and the con-
stant reference to it when doubts on any specified subjects
Avere entertained, attested the influence which it soon
obtained in this country, until, as w^e shall presently see,
it became in point of fact, the Prayer Book of the English
Church.*
There can be no doubt, however, that with the growth
of superstitious thought, there were continual additions
made to the Salisbury and the other Uses. It was tlie
knowledge of this that created a demand for revision in
the sixteenth century.
The labours of Osmund had extended beyond the
liturgy, which, strictly speaking, refers only to the Com-
munion office,f and had reference to all the offices of the
* The monasteries, which prided themselves on being exempt from
diocesan reguLitions, adopted generally the Roman system.
I It is so common at the present time to understand by the Liturgy
the entire Prayer Rook, or at least that part of it Avhich relates to
public prayer, that I shall not strictly observe a distinction, to Avhich,
however, the reader's attention must he occasionally directed.
AECHBISHOPS OP a\:^TERBURY. 261
Cliurcli tlirouixh which an amalgamation was effected of chap.
.'"'.. . . Ill
the various rites, British, Celtic, Saxon, Eoman, Galilean, ■ ^ — -
and of which in our first Book we have spoken at length, cranmer.
It will be for the convenience of the reader if I enumerate 1533-06.
here the principal office-books of Sarum ; for to them
I shall have occasion, from time to time, incidentally to
refer.
I. There was the Missal, which contained the ordinary
and canon of the Mass, together with the Litroits, Col-
lects, Epistles, Graduals, Alleluia, Tracts, Sequences,
Gospels, Offertories, Communions, and Post-Communions
throughout the year,
II. The Graduale, or Grayle, which contained the
musical notation to the Introits and other portions of the
service of which mention has just been made, together
with the musical notation to the ^icene Creed, Gloria in
Excelsis, and such other points of the ordinary and
canon as were suns;.
III. The Processionale, containing such parts of tlie
service as were sung in processions.
TV. The Ordinale, or book of direction for the priests.
V. The Portiforium, or Breviary, containing the service
for Matins, Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Xones, Vespers,
Compline, throughout the year, together with the Litany
and the Vigils for the dead. It Avas divided into two
parts : Pars Hy emails, the services from the first Sunday
in Advent to the end of Whitsun Vv^eek ; Pars ^Estivalis,
beginning with Trinity Sunday, and giving the services
from thence to Advent from the Eoman service. The
Use of Sarum differed from the Eoman Eite by adopting
only this twofold division. The Eoman Breviary is di-
vided into four parts : Pars Vernahs, beginning with the
first Sunday in Lent, and Pars Auctumnalis, beginning
wdth the Sunday nearest the Calends of September.
262 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. VI. The Legenda, containing the lessons to be said at
^ — - Matins.
Cranmer. VII. The Pica or Pie, a kind of directory as to the
io33-oG, order in which the services are to be said.
VIII. The Tonale, vulgarly called the " Tunnal," con-
taining the Gregorian tones for the Psalms, with direc-
tions.
IX. The Antiphonarium, or Antiphones, containing
musical notations of the Antiphons.
X. The Manuale, containing the offices of Baptism,
Matrimony, Visitation and Anointing of the Sick, Burial
of the Dead, &c.
XL The Pontificale, containing the offices peculiar to
the Bishop; as Confirmation, Ordination, and Consecration.
We are not surprised that a demand should have
arisen for a simplification of these volumes, some of them
of considerable dimensions, and all of them requiring an
amount of study which was irksome even to those who
had been accustomed to the manipulation of them, in
whole or in part, from early life.*
In Avhat relates to mediseval religion in general, we
may trace the failure which attended holy purposes and
praiseworthy endeavours to the fact that an end too high,
and therefore unattainable, was aimed at. Too much was
attempted. As regarded the whole monastic system,
what idea could be more sublime ! How irresistible its
fascination to the mind whose ambition did not terminate
with this world, but which aspired to a seat nearest to
the Saviour in the kingdom of glory ! But it was a system
adapted for angelic beings, not for men ; for holy creatures
who had not fallen, and not for man who in his holiest
condition is only a sinner saved. Men in despair either
* Carter's Liturgy of the Church of Sarr.m, Pref. p. 5.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 263
raved in madness, or relaxed into worse than carelessness, chap.
while legends became lying legends representing them as ^ — -
doing what the system required them to do ; taking it for cranmer.
granted that what they ought to do, that they did, though 1533-56.
in point of fact they did it not.
Of the Eitual services we may also remark, that the ideal
was grand ; it was a grand idea, which understood almost
literally the injunction that men ought always to pray and
not to faint. But what was attempted was found to be
physically impossible. Instead of a chapter of the Bible,
one verse was frequently read, and other alterations were
effected, still leaving the services so long, and, except to the
enthusiast, so wearisome, that the daily service Avas almost
confined to tlie cathedrals and the monasteries. There
was no Common Prayer in the churches ; tlipre were
masses said, — sometimes irreverently shortened, — to meet
the requirements of the sportsman, the warrior, or the
statesman, who thought only of the ojpus operatum ; but for
common prayer, to which allusion has been made, the
worshipper had to go to the cathedral, or if at a distance
from the cathedral, to some near monasteiy.
Even here, however, where leisure was great, and the
attendance at Divine worship was- the primary if not the
only duty, men found it necessary not unfrequently to
evade the laws, even when to evade them improperlj-
was far from their inclination. The hours of the day were
thus arranged to meet the requirements of the Use of
Sarum and the other Uses then in vogue ; there was a
service before daybreak called Nocturns, or Matins ; at
daybreak there was another service, called Lauds ; at six
o'clock, there was Prime ; at nine o'clock, Tierce ; at
twelve, Sexts ; at three o'clock in the afternoon, Xones ;
in the evening, Vespers ; at bed- time, Compline. These
services were, to avoid practical inconvenience, blended
264 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, too-ether so as to form one office, like our Common
III "^
-— .^ — Prayer and Communion office. They, however, had so
Thomas . . i , -i • c ^
Cianmer. many poiuts 111 couimou, that the accumulation or them
1033-56. led to frequent and vain repetitions. All these practical
inconveniences combined, with the gradual detection of
erroneous doctrine resulting in superstitious practices, to
induce men to desire a reformation ; and this became a
necessity when the monasteries were dissolved. No
longer could persons, desiring a daily attendance at the
divine worship, repair to a monastery near at hand ; and
in most cases ihe cathedral was at a distance. They now
required daily service at the parish churches, and a service
adapted to the circumstances, no longer of monks, but of
busy men of the world. Hence the Breviary of the Use
of Sarum was altered to make it seiTe for the daily
service of the parish churches. As in other cases, the
grievance was felt before it was declared, and attempts at
reform were made before the demand for reformation
became a popular cry.
The notion that the divines, who were appointed under
a royal commission, with the sanction of Convocation and
of Parliament — the clergy and the laity of the land — to
make a revision of the Use of Sarum, set to work immedi-
ately, and in a short space of time composed, or, as it is said,
compiled our liturgy, meaning by that word the whole
Prayer Book, is certainly not in accordance with historical
facts. Men speak as if these respectable committee-men
acted under an immediate and special inspiration, and
in producing the Prayer Book as the result of their
labours, wrought a miracle. Whereas in point of fact, the
subject had been mooted for years, and had been subjected
to long deliberation and examination, and was not a com-
position or compilation, but simply a revision.
At an earlyperiod in the episcopate of Archbishop War-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBURY. 265
liam, the reform of " tlie Use of Sariim" — and our Prayer chap.
Ill
Book, let it be remembered, is no more than this — had ^ — -^ —
commenced. In 1516, a new edition of the Salisbury Cranmer.
Portiforium was printed, and so many were the alterations 1 533-56.
which were tacitly made in it, that the student who cohates
it with other copies of the "Use of Sarum," will see that
it deserves the character which has been given to it of a
" reformed breviary."
Of the Salisbury Portiforium, thus reformed, there was
a reprint in 1531 ; and so popular was this proceeding
that in 1533 the Missal appeared, reformed on the same
principle. It is not intended to say that much was done
or designed. The doctrine of the Church had not been
impugned. But admission was already made, that the
time had arrived when a new revision of the offices of the
Church had become necessary. In both reforms the
rubrics had been simplified ; and in both, the great demand
of the age for the reading of Scripture had been met.
In the Portiforium it was directed, that instead of single
verses, entu'e chapters of the Bible should be read ;* and
arrangements were made, in the pubUcation of the Missal,
to enable the laity to find the places in the Epistles and
Gospels. In the Primers, translations were to be found
of various portions of the service, including the Litany,
portions of the Psalms, and the Epistles and Gospels. A
demand for the whole service in the vernacular was now
made, and on various grounds resisted by Cranmer.
Although he yielded to the judgment of others, yet he
* The pious attempt originally made to induce a copious reading of
Scripture, because too mucli was enjoined, at length terminated in the
perusal of one verse. One sees at once that this was to the pious and
to men of leisure a suggestion, and that they could read the rest of the
chapter at home. But we also see how easily it became, to the generality
of persons, a mere i'orni.
266 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, was adverse to a translation of any part of the Missal,
--^ — r-" — - He was willing to concede to the wishes of the public in
Cranmer. ^H that related to the Portiforium or Breviary, but his
io33-o6. unwillingness for a long time to touch the Missal, shows
his deep reverence for the Sacraments. This remark is
made, because it is well to bear in mind that difficulties
presented themselves to the reformers on both sides.
There were pious men who assumed that the people could
not understand the services unless they were translated ;
and others there were who, like Cranmer until further
advised, feared lest there should be a decrease of reve-
rence if the mysteries of the Church were presented to
the people in the vulgar tongue.
A re-arrangement of the Psalter had taken place, and
in 1534 and 1540 the Psalter had been printed in Latin
and English.
At length, in 1541, Osmund triumphed. He had
hoped to provide one great service-book, or rather, a
series of offices, for the use of the whole Church of Eng-
land. Although the Use of Sarum was the basis of all
the other Uses, still a variety of offices existed until the
year just mentioned. On the 3rd of March, 1541-2, the
Use of Sarum, purged, it was said on the title-page, from
many errors, was, by order of Convocation, adopted
throughout the province of Canterbury. After the Te
Dcum and the Magnificat, an order was made in this edi-
tion that the lessons should be read in English. On this
point there were no differences of opinion.
These measures were adopted partly to satisfy an
increasing demand for a reform, not only of the clergj^,
but also of the Church ; and partly as tentative to ascer-
tain what would meet the wishes of the public. It was
desirable to act Avith caution and to take time ; and by
temporary arrangements the public were to be satisfied
I
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURT. 267
until the authorities were in a condition to proceed. That ch-AP.
Ill
they were earnest in their intentions was shown by the ■ ^ — -
appointment, in 1542, of a committee of Convocation, cranmer.
consisting of a certain number of bishops, with six clergy 1533-56.
of the lower house, to examine, correct, and reform all
mass books, antiphones, and portuises.* This committee
continued its sittings, and with additional members
formed the committee of 1549, who produced the revised
Missal, Breviary, and Manual, which together form our
Book of Common Prayer.
The violence and excesses of the reforming party,
encouraged in all their iniquities by Ci'umwell, had ren-
dered necessary the passing of the statute of the six
articles, one of the decided but statesmanlike measures of
Henry YIII. The penalties threatened were severe in the
extreme, but I have stated, Avhat will probably be the con-
clusion of every reader examining the subject Avith impar-
tiality, that the king only desired through this statute —
hung in terrorem over the heads of the Eeformers — to
compel silence for a time, with a view to further reform
in due season. The continuance of the committee for
the revision of the service-books may be adduced as a
proof of Henry's intention to carry on the Eeformation,
as Cranmer asserted. He intended to put down the
party violence, and then to introduce gradually such
forms as his clergy in convocation might recommend.
Although this committee did not issue a report in the
reign of Henry YIII., yet it was not inactive. The practices
of the Church were investigated ; and in 1543 a canon was
prepared, though not published, on the ceremonies of the
Church of England, together with an explanation of the
meaning and significancy of them. In 1544 the committee
* The Portiforia, or Breviai-ies, were so called by the common
people.
2G8 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, set forth, with the sanction of the king, the Litany in
> .- — - Enghsli. The Litany had for many years been pubhshed
Crunmer. hi the vemacular language ; but this Litany was not
1.533-56. merely a reprint of the old ones — in it may be traced
references to the Eitual of Cologne, pubhshed by the cele-
brated archbishop of that place, the Elector Hermann.
Archbishop Cranmer was not the only Primate and
Metropolitan of the Western Church, who had resolved,
not, hke Calvin, to establish a new sect, but, like our own
predecessors, to reform the Church. His Grace the Lord
Archbishop of Canterbury w^as in correspondence with
his Highness the Archbishop of Cologne, who was also an
elector of the empire and a sovereign prince. Hermann
was a man of energy and zeal, of learning and prudence,
and he endeavoured to do in Germany what the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury succeeded in doing in England.
He desired to establish within his province and electorate
a pure system of devotion and worship. Archbishop
Hermann had, for this purpose, courted the assistance of
Melancthon and Bucer. It was probably through the
influence of the Elector, Archbishop of Cologne, that
Archbishop Cranmer w^as induced to offer preferment in
En2;land to Melancthon and Bucer. He sought the
advice of the former and secured the assistance of the
latter.*
* The Latin title of Hermann's great work was " Simplex Indicium
de Eelbrmatione ecclesiarnm electoratus Coloniensis." According to
the statement of Melancthon, the Archbishop of Cologne, in reforming
his breviary, took for his basis a formulary of devotion known as the
Nuremburg Liturgy. (Epp. 546.) This was drawn up by Melancthon,
and professed to be an abridgment of the services of the Catholic
Church, Avith such alterations and amendments as were judged neces-
sary to purge it from error and superstition. It was a reformed
breviary, as a Rule of Devotion revised on the same principle as our
Book of Common Prayer : and I will take this opportunity of stating
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 269
There was also another work of considerable import- char
ance to which the attention of the English Eeformers w^as -_— ,-l_
called, and which made a considerable impression upon cranmer
their minds, the work of Cardinal Quignon ; for we find io33-.56
in the Preface of the Prayer Book of 1"549 direct re-
ferences to the Preface of Quignon's breviary.
This breviary was first pubHshed under papal patron-
age in the year 1536, and was extensively used in various
European churches, until 1568, wdien it was superseded
that I refer generally for the statements relating to the revision of the
offices of the Chxirch of England, and their assuming their present
form, to this and to the following works : — The Notes of Bishop
Andrewes ; Ang. Cath. Lib. ; Biilley's Variations of the Communion
and Baptismal Offices ; the various publications of Cardwell, an accu-
rate though a prejudiced writer; Collier, Burnet, Bishop Cosin ; Arch-
deacon Freeman's Principles of Divine Service, a work of deep philo-
sophical thought and of historical accuracy ; L'Estrange's Alliance of
Divine Offices ; Liturgies of Edward VI. ; Parker Soc. ; Maskell ;
Merbecke's Common Prayer Book, Noted, 1550 ; Neale's Various
Works ; Sir "William Palmer's Origines LitUrgicje ; Sparrow's Ea-
tionale; Stephens' Edition of the Prayer Book. With Comber and
Wheatley most persons have been acquainted from their early years ;
and we feel grateful to works Avhich set us a-thinking when no more
recondite piiblications existed. But although Wheatley evidently was
aware that the Book of Common Prayer was a revision, and not a com-
pilation, he did not piu-sue or examine the subject — perhaps he dared
not. To have represented us as indebted for our Prayer Book to
Osmund, who himself only revised what had come down from primi-
tive times, would have exposed him to a suspicion of popery, and have
imperilled his life. He has been superseded by Mr. Procter, who has
done his work thoroughly well ; still it is only a compendium, and it is
to be hoped that he will continue his labours on a more extended scale
in the same honest Anglican spirit by which his present book is dis-
tinguished. It is to be hoped that the ground will not be occupied by
half-learned men — the men who confoiuid Post-reformation Eomanism
■with Pre-reformation Catholicism. No one has a right to dogmatise
upon the Ritual question who has not been able to consult Diirandus ;
the Sacramentaries of Gelasius and Gregory the Great ; Goar ; Cata-
lani, and Zaccaria.
270 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, by a bull of Pius, who established the present rule in
^^/' - churches of the Eoman obedience.
Thomas Quimion's breviarv made the formulary more conform-
1533-56. able to its title, by omitting or abbreviating all the more
I'ecent innovations and superstitions, together with many
of those versicles, little chapters, and responds which
interrupt the reading of the lessons and irritate the minds
of all except the learned few. The learned, when a custom
is once established, discover a reason for it which perhaps
never occurred to the minds of those to whom it is in-
debted for its introduction. Quignon also omitted the
officium parvum of the holy Virgin, under the pretext that
although the Church Avas bound to adore her, she w^ould
be better pleased with a system which, " by a more conve-
nient and expeditious method allured the clergy to the
Divine Word of her Son Jesus Christ."*
The committee of revision appointed in the reign of
Henry YIII. was considerably enlarged in the following
reign, and, as we have before remarked, acted now un-
der a royal commission. Of the upper house there were
the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Cranmer ; the Bishop
of Ely, Dr. Goodrich, afterwards Lord Chancellor; the
Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Holbeach ; the Bishop of Chiches-
ter, Dr. Day ; the Bishop of Hereford, Dr. Skip ; the
Bishop of Westminster, Dr. Thirlby ; the Bishop of
Eochester, afterwards of London, Dr. Eidley. Of the
lower house the members were the Dean of St. Paul's,
Dr. May ; the Dean of Christ Church, afterwards Bishop of
* This Avas probably one main reason Avhy this Breviary was sup-
pressed. The character of Romanism after the Comicil of Trent was
materially changed from what it had been before. The reformers of
England set the first example of a revision of the Breviary in 1510.
Qui'T'non pursued the subject with greater boldness. The work is so
extremely rare, that it reaches almost a fabulous price in the book-
market.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 271
Ely, Dr. Cox ; the Dean, afterwards Bishop, of Lincoln, Dr. chap.
Taylor ; the Dean of Exeter, Dr. Haynes ; Archdeacon ^-
Eobinson, afterwards Dean of Durham, Mr. Eobertson ; and cranmer.
Dr. Eedmayne, the master of Trinity Cohege, Cambridge. 1533-56.
A more judicious selection of learned and moderate
men representing all classes and all schools could not
have been made.
The result of their deliberations was an immediate
reform of the Missal ; which emanated in a Communion
office substantially the same as that wdiich is now in use.*
Inadvertently, indeed, a fiu'ther liberty was granted to
the members of the Church of England. Auricular con-
fession was declared to be no longer obligatory before
the reception of the Holy Sacrament. The communi-
cants had become so very few, that measures were taken
to increase the number, and one of the impediments to
frequent communion, or to communion at all, was found
to consist in the supposed necessity of confessing. Con-
fession to God, being necessary, a general confession and
an absolution were afterwards prepared ; but at the
present time, with a liberahty worthy of commendation,
the subject of confession was left an open question.
Persons who adhered to the old system of auricular con-
fession were exhorted to abstain from censuring their
brethren, by whom a general confession to Almighty
God was considered to be a sufficient preparation for the
Holy Sacrament ; on the other hand, it was required of
* Our present office was adopted in the Convocation of 1662, in tlie
reign of Charles 11. It is to be observed that the present Mass Book
was not used in England anterior to the Reformation, as modern
sciolists take for granted. Although all liturgies, using the term in its
strict sense, were similar, and the English Communion office is no
exception, yet, until the Council of Trent, which imposed (with some
trifling exceptions) the Roman office on churches of the Roman obe-
dience, they differed considerably, as has been shown above, in detail.
272 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Others who were contented witli a confession to God only
III • • . . .
« — r^ — • without the intervention of a priest, not to vituperate
Cranmer. their brethren who set a value on sacerdotal benediction.
1533-56. It was ordered that the ancient office, to whicli the
people w^ere accustomed, should be used without altera-
tion, in the Latin tongue, to the end of the canon, and
up to that point where the celebrant was accustomed to
receive the Communion himself. An exhortation, in effect
the same as the second of those now in the Prayer Book,
was after this addressed to the communicants. They were
to be prepared for the high privilege to which they were
admitted by a warning and an encouragement ; by con-
fessing their sins to God, and by a general absolution ;
the comfortable sentences followed, and the prayer of
humble access. The communicants having received in
botli kinds, were dismissed with the benediction.*
The order for the Communion was published by pro-
clamation on the 8th of March ; and the proclamation
was followed by a royal letter requiring the bishops to
distribute it without loss of time in their respective
dioceses, in order that it might be in the hands of the
clergy before the ensuing Easter.
A reform of the Breviary was a natural consequence
of the reform of the Missal : from the liturgy, properly so
called, attention was directed to the entire ritual of the
Church of England. The additions made to the Missal
with the view of brmging prominently forward the
sacramental as distinguished from the sacrificial portion
of the ordinance, had caused much annoyance to many
who trembled for the safety of the ark when a portion of
it so sacred was touched.
With the Breviaiy it was otherwise. The Breviary,
* The office may be found inWilkins, iv. 11 ; Sparrow's Collections;
L'Estrange's Alliance ; and Cardwell's Two Liturgies.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 273
itself an arrangement of offices previously existing, had, chap.
at various periods, received additions and alterations. -^ ,-^—
It required to be translated, rearranged, compressed, and cvanmer.
rendered more convenient for common and parochial 1033-06.
use. To bring the vdiole within the compass of one
volume was a great and important undertaking, rendered
possible through the instrumentality of the printing-press.
Before the art of printing was discovered, or rather
applied to the fabrication of books, every set of offices
formed a separate volume. The trouble and expense
of transcription was great, and as all parts of the ritual
were not in demand in every place, it was not easy to
procure them. The parish priest did not require the
pontifical ; and the processional, which was studied in the
cathedral and the monastery, was, comparatively speak-
ing, of little importance in the nn-al parish. There were
the Psalter, the Bible, the Antiphonarium, the Hymna-
rium, the Passionarium, the Martyi'ologium, and similar
books, of which the use, respectively, like those enu-
merated, was denoted by their titles, to discuss which
would occupy us long.
For all this a remedy was demanded. It was also dis-
covered that valuable as was the Portease, Portuis, Por-
tuasse, Porthoos, or Porfory, or Portiforium — (by all which
titles the Salisbury Breviary was denominated, being a col-
lection of lessons, collects, hymns, thanksgivings, and forms
of prayer which have solaced the souls of the faithfid and
brought them into communion with God, fi'om the earliest
times) — it was nevertheless tinged and tainted with certain
superstitions and errors of doctrine, which required the
erasing hand of the cautious reformer.
But as Cranmer and his coadjutors observed :
" There was never anything by the wit of man so well devised,
or so surely estabhshed, which (in continuance of time"* hath
VOL. VII. T
274 LIVES OF THE
CITAP. not been corrupted : as (among other things) it may plainly
^^^- appear by the common prayers in the Church, commonl}'^ called
Thomas divine service : the first original and gi'ound whereof if a man
.00 -n would search out by the ancient fathers, he shall find that the
lo33-o6. "^
same was not ordained, but of a good purpose, and for a great
advancement of godliness ; for they so ordered the matter, that
all the whole Bible (or the greatest part thereof) should be read
over once in the year, intending thereby that the clergy, as
especially such as were ministers of the congregation, should
(by often reading and meditation of Grod's Word) be stirred up to
godliness themselves, and be more able to exhort other by whole-
some doctrine, and to confute them that were adversaries to the
truth. And further, that the people (by daily hearing of Holy
Scripture read in the church) should continually profit more and
more in the knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed with
the love of His true religion. But these many years passed, this
godly and decent order of the ancient fathers hath been so
altered, broken, and neglected, by jjlantiug in uncertain stories,
legends, responds, verses, vain repetitions, commemorations,
and synodals, that commonly when any book of the Bible was
begun, before three or four chapters were read out, all the rest
were unread. And in this sort the book of Esaie was begun in
Advent, and the book of Grenesis in Septuagesima ; but they
were only begun, and never read through. After a like sort
were other books of Holy Scripture used. And moreover,
whereas St. Paul would have such language spoken to the
people in the church, as they might understand and have profit
by hearing the same : the service in this Church of England (these
many years) hath been read in Latin to the people, which they
understood not, so that they have heard with their ears only ;
and their hearts, spirit, and mind have not been edified thereby.
And furthermore, notwithstanding that the ancient fathers
have divided the Psalms into seven portions, whereof every
one was called a nocturn ; now of late time a few of them
have been daily said (and oft repeated) and the rest utterly
omitted. Moreover, the number and harshness of the rules
called the Pie, and the manifold changings of the service,
was the cause, that to turn the book only was so hard and
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEKBUEY. 275
intricate a matter, that many times there was more business CHAP.
to find out what should be read than to read it when it was ^^^-
found out."* Thomas
Cranmer.
The commissioners over wliom the Primate presided, as- 1^33-56.
sembled at Windsor on the 9th of May, 1548. They conti-
nued to sit during the summer months, and brought their
labours to a termination in the month of Xovember. They
removed from the Breviary all that was anti-scriptural,
and they adopted an order of service very similar to that
with which we are ourselves familiar. At tlie same time
they carried on still further their reform of the Missal.
The whole office was now to be in English, and it was
styled, " The Supper of the Lord and the Holy Com-
munion, commonly called the Mass." This reformed Mass
is very nearly identical with that office which is still used
by the Church of England.
The Act of Uniformity, by which parliamentary au-
thority was given to the work thus accomplished by the
Church, is so important, as corroborating the facts now laid
before the reader, that it will be interesting to peruse it
as an historical document. It commences with saying : —
" Whereas of long time there hath been had in this realm
of England and "Wales divers forms of Common Praj^er, com-
monly called the Service of the Church, that is to say, the Use
of Sarum, of York, of Bangor, and of Lincoln ; and besides the
same now of late much more divers and sundry forms and
fashions have been used in the cathedrals and parish churches
of England and Wales, as well concerning the mattens, or
morning prayer, and the even-song, as also concerning the
Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass, with divers and
sundry rites and ceremonies concerning the same, and in the
administration of other sacraments of the Church ; and albeit,
the king, by the advice of his Council, hath hitherto divers
Pref. to First Liturgy.
T 2
276 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, times assayed to stay innovations or new rites concerning the
^^^- premisses, yet the same hath not had such good success as bis
Thomas Highness required in that behalf; whereupon his Highness being
pleased to bear ^Yith the frailty and weakness of his subjects in
that behalf, of his great clemency hath not only been content
to abstain from punishment of those that have offended in that
behalf, but also to the intent a uniform quiet and godly order
should be had concerning the premisses, hath appointed the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and certain other of the most learned
and discrete bishops, and other learned men of this realm,
having respect to the most sincere and pure Christian religion
taught by the Scripture, as to the usages in the primitive
Church, to draw and make one convenient and meet order,
rite, and fashion, of common and open prayer and administra-
tion of the sacraments to be had and used in his ]Majesty's
realm of Eno-land and in Wales, the which bv the aid of the
Holy Grhost, with one uniform agreement, is of them con-
cluded, set forth, and delivered in a book, entitled *The Book
of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and
other Eites and Ceremonies of the Church, after the use of the
Church of England : ' Wherefore the Lords spiritual and tem-
poral, and the Commons, in this present parliament assembled,
considering as well the most godly travel of the king's Highness
herein, as the godly prayers, orders, rites, and ceremonies in
the said book mentioned, and the considerations of altering
those things which he altered, and retaining those things which
be received in the said book, and also the honour of God, and
great quietness which by the grace of God shall ensue upon
the one and uniform rite and order, in such Common Pj-ayer
and rites and external ceremonies to be used throughout Eng-
land and Wales, do give to his Highness most hearty and lowly
thanks for the same, and humbly pray that it may be enacted
by his jNIajesty, with the assent of the Lords and Commons in
parliament assembled, that all and singular ministers in any
cathedral or parish church, or other place within this realm,
shall be bounden to say and use the mattens, even-song, cele-
bration of the Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and
administration of each the sacraments, and all their common
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERCUEY. 277
aud open prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the CH.\P.
same book, and none other, or otherwise." * ^^-
Thomas
With the exception of a reference to one of the rubrics, , .„„ .'
i ' lo33-o6.
we of the nineteenth century, as Mr. Gladstone observes,
are not more concerned with this Prayer Book tlian we
are with any of the Breviaries preceding it. It is the
basis of the Prayer Book adopted by the Convocation of
1662, but so were the antecedent Breviaries the basis of
Edward's first Book of Common Prayer. f
It may be doubted whether Cranmer, and those who
were associated with him, could appreciate to its full
extent the work as it came from their hands. Witliout
depreciating their learning or their piety, we know that
their minds had been directed to doctrinal studies rather
than to devotional exercises ; and we also knoAv that to
liturgical subjects the learned mind of Europe was not di-
rected before the middle of the seventeenth century. For
the blessing which we possess in our liturgy, using the
term in its most extended sense, we are indebted to that
intuitive wisdom of the English mind, which objects to
changes for the mere sake of changing, and which, while
sanctioning reform, abhors revolution. Om- first reformers
dared not do more than they did ; our last reformers, those
to whom we are especialty indebted, and who, in 1662,
gave us our present Prayer Book, appreciated the blessing
to the full extent, of having a Church not made new but
reformed. They, as we do, felt a pride in being able to
say : — " The English Prayer Book was not composed in a
few 3^ears, nor by a few men ; it has descended to us with
the improvements and the approbation of many centuries :
and they who truly feel the calm and subhme elevation of
* Phillimore's Burns, iii. 409.
f See the Introductorv Chapter to this book.
278 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, our hymns and prayers, participate in the spirit of primi-
» — r^ — - tive devotion. The great majority of our formularies are
Cranmcr, actually translated from Latin and Greek rituals which
1533-56 have been used for at least fourteen or fifteen hundred
years in the Christian Church ; and there is scarcely a
portion of our Prayer Book which cannot in some way
be traced to ancient offices." *
By the Calvinists, who were beginning to form a party
in our countiy, and who desked to substitute their sect on
the overthrow of the Church, complaint was made that
the commissioners in supplying the Church, in the Book
of Common Prayer, Avith a mere revision of the ancient
formularies, had done next to nothing. The Book of
Common Prayer, it was said, was only the Missal and the
Breviary in the English language. That this was not,
strictly speaking, true, it is unnecessary to affirm. The
slio:htest examination of these works will show that the re-
formers strictly observed the principle which in the Bre-
viary as it then existed — except under the forms published
by Cardinal Quignon and Archbishop Hermann — had
been violated though it had not been repudiated. 'Pro-
vision was made for the reading of the entire Scriptm^es,
which, in the unrevised formulary, had been rendered
impossible by the introduction of legends now discarded.
The Psalter was to be read or sung, in the course of a
month instead of a week. The seven services were united
so as to produce, what had of late become the practice
through their unauthorised junction, two forms, one for
morning, the other for evening prayer. The Ave Maria
and Invocation of Saints were abolished, together with
many superstitious observances. In the abolition of what
they regarded as superstitions, it may be doul^ted whether
the reformers did not go too far. The various consecra-
* Six William Palmer, Origiues Liturgicoe,^. Pref. ii.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAN-TEEBURY. 279
tioDS and exorcisms of bread, cheese, candles, incense, chap,
palms, bells and images, were very properly abolished. ^^ — ^l—
But there were various other customs to which the people cranmtr.
were attached and which attracted them to the Church ; 1533-06,
and whether a reservation of some observances which,
though not necessary, ^jsvere at least innocent, might not
have been permitted, is a question which occurs to the
mind of those who, after the lapse of ages, contemplate
Avith gratitude the good work which was accomplished
as admirable in principle, even if not perfect in detail.
Anions the Ensjhsh reformers there were no men of a
vivid imao-ination, and there were some who were influ-
enced by the sarcastic wit in which the more violent
partisans of the reformation indulged. Their single ob-
ject was the refutation of error, and they did not perceive
that religion has to deal not only with the logical faculty
in man, but also with his affections and imagination.
The Common Prayer Book being intended for the ser-
vice of the priests and people, the ordinal at first formed
no part of it. But the desire to be able to bind up all
our offices in one volume was reasonable. A reformation
of the ordinal was accordingly required ; and the revision
was conducted by the same commission by which the
other ordinances of the Church had been reformed, witli
the exception of the Bishop of Chichester. From the
renunciation of the patriarchal authority, formerly assumed
by the Pope, certain alterations had become necessary,
and these were carefully framed in conformity with the
rules recapitulated in the Council of Carthage, held in
the year 401. When change was not necessary, the
service followed the ancient ritual.*
It is observed by a distinguished ritualist that this was
* Collier, A'. 376; Strype's Memorials, ii, I86 ; Heylin, 82 ; Ori-
gines Liturgicte, ii. 24G.
280 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, an important step, by whicli the apostolical succession ^Yas
- — .^ — - preserved to the Church of England. " The clergy,"
Cranmer. hc says, " are proved to be the successors of the apostles
1533-56. and the true ministers of God, by the succession of apos-
tolical ordination ; by prescriptive, rightful, and original
possession ; and by the succession, of apostolical doctrine.
" F{?'st. The bishops who rule the churches of these
realms were validly ordained by others, who by means of
an unbroken spiritual descent of ordinations, derived their
mission from the apostles and from our Lord. This con-
tinual descent is e\'ident to any one who chooses to inves-
tigate it. Let him read the catalogues of our bishops,
ascending up to the most remote period. Our ordinations
descend in a direct unbroken line from Peter and Paul,
the apostles of the circumcision and the Gentiles. These
great apostles successively ordained Linus, Cletus, and
Clement bishops of Eome ; and the apostolical line of
succession was regularly continued from them to Celestine,
Gregory and Yitaliauus, who ordained Patrick bishop for
the L'ish, and Augustine and Theodore for the Enghsh.
And from those times an uninterrupted series of valid
ordinations have carried down the apostolical succession
in our churches even to the present day. There is not a
bishop, priest, or deacon amongst us, who cannot, if he
pleases, trace his own spiritual descent from St. Peter and
St. Paul. Secondly. These bishops are the rightful suc-
cessors of those who ruled the Church in the befrinninix.
The pastors who originally preached the gospel and con-
verted the inhabitants of these realms to Christianity
were legitimately ordained, and therefore liad divine mis-
sion for their work. The ancient British bishops, who sat
in the councils of Aries and JSTice in the fourth century,
were followed by a long line of successors, who governed
dioceses in Britain ; so were tliose prelates from L'eland,
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 2S1
who in the seventh century converted a great portion of chap.
the pagan invaders of Britain ; and so also was Augustine, - — .- — -
Archbishop of Canterbury, who was sent by Gregory of cranmer.
Eome about the same time, and who preached to another 1533-06.
portion of the Anglo-Saxons, The churches, deriving
tlieir origin from these three sources, were governed by
prelates, who all filled distinct dioceses ; and those dio-
ceses have been occupied by a regular series of bishops,
canonically ordained, from the beginning down to the
present day. We can therefore not only prove that we
are descended by valid ordinations from the apostles
Peter and Paul ; but can point out the dioceses whicli our
predecessors have rightly possessed even from the begin-
ning. We stand on the. ground of prescriptive and
immemorial possession, not merely from the times of
Patrick and Auofustine ; but from those more remote
ages, when the bishops and priests that were our prede-
cessors attended the Councils of Aries and of Xice, when
Tertullian and Origen bore witness that the fame of our
Christianity had extended to Africa and tlie East."*
The Ordination Service was at first used, as the office
for the consecration of churches is at the present time,
by the sole authority of the bishops. But as, in those days
of bitter controversy, the validity of the office, as related
to the secular rights of the clergv, mio-ht have been
questioned, an act of parliament was obtained : and a
most extraordinary act it was, constituting that to be law
which did not at the time exist. f
" Such form," it was said, " and manner of makincr and
consecrating of archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, and
other ministers of the Church, as b}' six prelates and six
other men of this realm learned in God's law, by the king
* Sir William Palmer, Origines Liturgicee, i. 200.
I Statutes at Large, ii. 435.
282 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, to be appointed and assigned, or by the most number of
•- — ^ — - them, shall be devised for that purpose and set forth
Craumor. uudcr the Great Seal before the first of April next
1533-56. coming, shall be lawfully exercised and used, and none
other." *
In the year 1553, the ordinal was annexed to the
Book of Common Prayer, and so it lias continued to be.
Certain alterations were then made ; the omission, for
example, of some requirements as to vestments, of
introits, of all appeal to saints and evangelists, of the
delivery of a chalice and bread at the ordination of a
priest ; and of the laying the Bible on the neck, and of
tlie placing the pastoral staff in the hand at the conse-
cration of a bishop, f
These were concessions made to the violent clamour
raised against the Book of Common Prayer and against
all the work of our reformers, by the Calvinistic or Ultra-
Protestant party, now rising into importance. Of the
violence of this party we shall have occasion to speak
more particularly hereafter. We have only occasion
here to renew our remark, that Archbishop Cranmer had
no very fixed principles to guide him ; and that, though
he was a man of great ability, he had no genius to mark
out a line of his own. By the clergy generally, the Book
of Common Prayer had been favourably received. No
greater proof of this can be produced than the fact, that
* The principal -writers in defence of the validity of our ordinations
are IMason, Bramhall, Burnet, and Elrington. Amongst the Eomanist>J,
Courayer, Canon Kegular of Ste. Genevieve, distinguished himself by a
" Defence of the Validity of the English Ordinations," and by a mas-
terly " Supplement " to the same work, in which he overthrows trium-
phantly all the objections of Pere le Quien, and other Eomanists, to oiu*
ordinations.
\ BuUey, Variations of Communion and Baptismal OfEces in the
Church of England.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 283
before the Whitsunday on whicli it was commanded to chap,
be used, it had been introduced into many churches by • — ^■— -
the impatience both of the clergy and of the people, cranmer.
But it was violently assailed by the party of the old 1533-56.
learning, and more violently still by the Calvin ists. At
this time, the Archbishop, in his weakness, held parley
with the Ultra-Protestants. He dared not do as they
wished in all respects, for he knew that although the
country would tolerate tlie reform of the Church, an
attempt to overthrow it would cause a rebellion.* But
the Calvinists were supported by a government, tlie mem-
bers of which were anxious to make their own fortunes
through the overthrow of the Church ; and thus sup-
ported they could obtain a hearing, and they made an
impression even on the clergy, though not at present to
any great extent.
In his letters to the Protector, to BuUinger, and to the
Archbishop himself, Cahdn fiercely attacked not only the
Praj^er Book, but the whole principle of the English
Eeformation. He projected for this countiy a submission
to his own code, and for this piu^pose he employed agents
in the court, among the clergy, and in the two Uni-
versities, f It is an extraordinaiy fact, that although Cal-
vinism consigns whole masses of people to perdition, there
is such a fascination about the system even to the present
time, that the most illiterate and even immoral Calvinist
can secure an overflowing congregation, where an ortho-
dox preacher can scarcely obtain an audience. To this
* An eminent writer uttered the paradox, that in our revolutions the
English thought ranch of liberty, and nothing of religion. This his-
torical falsehood has been reiterated by many an ignoramus pretending
to that superiority of intellect Avhich infidelity assumes to itself; though
the slightest glance at the history of England would convict them of
uttering what is a palpable untruth.
t Heylin, 107.
284 LIVES OF THE
CH-AJ. class of reformers, the retention of tlie name of Mass,
> ^h - which was the title of our Communion office when first it
cwne?. '^^'as revised, gave great offence.* Our reformei's retained
1533-56. it, probably, without having considered the subject. There
it was. It w^as one of the ancient names of the office.
Tlie}'' merely revised the offiice, and permitted the old
title to remain in the English Liturgy.
Nothing could exceed the violence of the ultra-
reformers and the insolence of foreigners in seeking to
dictate to the people of England. To such an extent was
this violence carried, that it was found necessary to bring
the whole subject of a revision of our offices before the
Convocation which met in the year 1550. Of the debates
in this Convocation no record has been preserved ; we
only know, from a letter written by Peter ]\Iartyr, that
he had been informed by the archbishop himself that he
had summoned the Convocation " about the business of
the revision, and had concluded many alterations." f
* The -word JNIass, as applied to tlie Divine Liturgy, is, according to
Bingliam, -who gives tlie authority, derived from the words, " Ite
missa est," addressed to the catechumens, " Go, ye are dismissed;" or,
as in the Eastern Liturgies, " Let us depart hence in peace." I believe
that there was no doubt about this origin of the term in the early
■\\Titers. In the middle ages, as the doctrine became corrupt, some of the
schoolmen derived the signification of the word from its being a sacrificej
sent up, " dismissed to God." It was this, probably, which made it offen-
sive to some Protestant divinps. Certain it is, that it was used, at length,
to distinguish the Eoman idea of a pi'opitiator// from the primitive
idea of the spiritual sacrifice. Our reformers, dwelling on tlie Sacra-
ment, spoke of the Communion office ; the Romanists, dwelling on a
corporeal sacrifice, spoke of the IMass. It is a misfortune to have per-
mitted the Romanists to maintain and appropriate the correct name ;
but it cannot now be helped. The reader may fiild it convenient to
be reminded or informed that the "ordinary" of the Mass was such
part of the service as preceded the canon, which did not vary with the
different festivals. The "canon," or rule, was the part of the service
contitining the actual consecration.
t Collier, v. iU.
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 285
Tlie original commissioners, it appears, with the arch- chap.
bishop at their head, renewed their labours in 1550 ; and, - — ,L^
proceeding carefully in their work, they were able to cranmtr.
submit it to the Convocation on the 14th of October, and io33-5g.
attain at the session of tlie 5th of November. The parlia-
ment met on the 23rd of January, 1552, and on the 6th. of
April another Act of Uniformity was passed. The offices,
thus further altered, came into use on the Feast of All
Saints, and are generally known as the Second Book of
Edward VI. The Ultra-Protestants were almost as much
dissatisfied with the second book as they had been with
the first. The ultra-party had got the ear of the young
king, whose precocious talents w^ere accompanied by the
self-sufficiency and obstinacy by which the Tudor race
was, for good or for evil, distinguished. There was, at
the same time, a large party who were unwilling that
the first book should be changed at all. Sufficient
liberties, they thouglit, had already been taken with the
ancient offices. The two parties have continued in the
Church to the present hour. We have still to lament
the bitterness of the controversial spirit as exliibited by
either extreme ; and w^e still find the strength of the
Church in that large but unobtrusive body of Christian
men and Christian women who, treading in the via media,
are inflexible in principle, while exempt alike from the
weakness of superstition and the reveries of fanaticism ;
wlio, active without ostentation, bring religion to bear on
the relations of life, while their patriotism and church-
manship are neither warped by ambition nor tainted by
faction.
Whether the alterations introduced into the second
Prayer Book were all of them improvements, is a subject
upon which opinion is still divided ; and, as we know not
tlie precise line taken by Cranmcr, it does not fall within
286 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, my province to discuss it. It may be convenient, how-
- ,-^— ' ever, briefly to state what were the chief variations from
Cranmer. the first book which appeared in the second.
1533-56. The -first reformed Prayer Book enjoined what the
second did not in the following particulars among
others : It had its introits or psalms prefixed to the
collects for the day. A second Communion was appointed
for Christmas and Easter, and a service for the Feast of
St. Mary Magdalene. The use of the terms " mass " and
" altar " was omitted, and the mixture of water with wine
in the Eucharist. A rubric was added for setting the ele-
ments on the altar, and the ancient form in delivering
them was retained, together with an invocation — a verbal
oblation, — and signing of the cross in the consecration.
Transpositions of the Gloria in Excelsis^ and some other
portions of the services were ordered. In the first book,
moreover, there were prayers for the dead in the Com-
munion and Burial Service. There was a rubric for re-
ceiving the bread in the mouth, another for reserving the
Sacrament, and others supposing daily Communion. A
Communion was provided at burials. Anointing in the
Visitation and Communion of the Sick was retained, with a
form of exorcism, trine immersion, unction, and the chrism
in baptism. There was a separate service for the consecra-
tion of the water. Signing of the cross was a ceremony
observed in matrimony. The rochet, albe, and vestment,
or cope, were authorised. The Athanasian Creed was to
be read only on the great festivals.
In the second edition of the revised Prayer Book,
various changes were made. In the Communion Service
several transpositions took place, and a modern form, since
rejected, was substituted for the ancient delivery of the
elements. Prayers for the dead were no longer introduced/
The festival of St. Mary Magdalene was discontinued. A
AECnBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 287
rubric was aclcled at the end of the Preface, requiring all chap.
priests and deacons to say daily the morning and evening r-^ — -
prayer, either privately or openly, unless they were let by Cranmur.
some lurgent cause. The Sentences, Exhortation, Con- 1533-56.
fession and Absolution, and the Jubilate Deo^ Cantate
Domino, and Deus misereatui\ were added in the morning
and evening prayers, together with the Commandments,
and a third exhortation in the Communion Service. It
contained the declaration relative to kneeling at the
Communion. The ordinal of 1549 was now added to the
Prayer Book, with the slight variations mentioned above ;
and the Athanasian Creed was appointed for several saints'
days, as well as for the great festivals.*
Archbishop Cranmer entered cordially into the scheme
proposed by Melancthon for drawing u]3 a confession of
faith, to be adopted by all those communities of Christians
in the Western Chm'ch by whom the supremacy of the
Bishop of Eome was denied. Cranmer desired to see all
these communities united under the Kingj of England as
their protector — a kind of lay pope to be opposed to the
Pope of Eome. Calvin, who, if there were to be a Pro-
testant pope, aspired to that office himself, perceived and
declared, with his practical wisdom, that such an attempt
would be futile.f Cranmer, however, determined that,
* Bulley's Variations in the Communion and Baptismal OfEces. Pref.
pp. vi. vii. X. ; Cardwell's Two Liturgies, Coll. v. 435-7 ; Pickering's
reprint of Prayer Book. London, 1844.
t Of this great and good man, to whom even those who stand
opposed to the views regarded as distinctly and peculiarly his own,
are nevertheless indebted for much of their theology, Archbishop
Laurence truly says that ' systematizing was his darling propensity,
and the ambition of being distinguished as a leader in reform his pre-
dominant passion ; in the arrangements of the former he never felt a
doubt, or found a difficulty ; and in the pursuit of the latter he dis-
played an equal degree of perseverance and ardour. Thus, in the
288 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, if on a large scale he could not succeed, the attempt,
■— — - — ' nevertheless, to enforce an uniformity of teaching on all
Craiinur. important points of divinity should be made in England.
ij33-u6. j|. ^^,.^g j^ijg more needful that some authorised confession
of faith should be published, as in some quarters, the
reformers were accused of heresy, and this accusation the
Englisli reformers resisted.
Hence the forty-two articles, which were afterwards
reduced to thirty-nine, were prepared under the direction
of the archbishop, accepted by Convocation,* and en-
forced by the king in council, every clergyman being
required to sign them. The two Protestant parties, the
Lutherans and the Calvinists — though the Lutherans were
in after times designated in England, under certain modi-
fications of doctrine, Arminians — have made the articles
thus first drawn up, under the auspices of Cranmer, their
ground of battle. The Calvinists have striven to give
to the articles drawn up by Lutherans an exclusively
Calvinistic meaning ; and tliey have been justified in the
attempt, for though the articles were drawn up by
Lutherans, yet the Lutherans penned them with the
express purpose of making concessions, wherever it was
possible, to the Cahdnists.
doctrine of the Eucharist, it is ■well known that he laboured to acquire
celebrity, and conciliate followers, by maintaining a kind of middle
sacramental presence between the corjjoreal of the Lutherans and th.e
mere spiritual of the Zuinglians, expressing himself in language which,
partly derived from one and partly from the other, verged toAvards
neither extreme, but which, by his singular talent at perspicuous com-
bination, could be applied (and not without success) to his own par-
ticular pixrpose.
* How lar the forty-two articles had the synodical sanction of the
Church of England has been questioned. The subject is fairly dis-
cussed by Joyce, 483, and by Cardwell, in his Synodalia. Although we
depend upon indirect testimony, the point seems to be established that
they were submitted to Convocation.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY, 289
The Archbishop of Cauterbiiry was, I think, again
indebted to the Archbishop of Cologne. In that prelate's
valuable formulary may be seen the groundwork of the
articles.* 1533-66.
There was not much labour required on the part of
the ai'chbishop in the preparation of these articles, for
he did not attempt to draw them up himself. He Avas
doubtless aware, that he had not sufficient theological
learning or firmness of character to do so. Wliat was
required, was that which Cranmer pre-eminently pos-
sessed, a sound judgment, and that power of revision
which enabled him to mould what was intended for one
set of circumstances into the shape which, under different
circumstances, might make it still useful.
As the assessors of Archbishop Hermann were Melanc-
thon and Bucer, we find what w^e should expect to find,
a close resemblance between the forty-two articles and
the Augsburg Confession. If we refer to Hermann's work,
it is impossible to deny to Cranmer the credit due to him
for the soundness of his judgment, and for the skill which
could separate from a mass of important statements the
sahent and necessary portions. Cranmer had the faculty
of expressing other men's thoughts more clearly than the
* In the Library of Chicliester Cathedral we have the copy of Arch-
bishop Hermann's work, which was in the possession of Archbishop
Cranmer. On the title-page there is Cranmer's autograph. I give the
full title and the colophon : — " Nostra Hermann! ex gratia Dei Archi-
episcopi Coloniensis et Principis electoris, &c., simplex ac pia deli-
beratio, qua ratione Christiana et in verbo Dei fundata Eeformatio
Doctrinse, administrationis divinorum Sacramentorum, Cferemoniarum,
totiusque curfe Animariim et aliorum ministeriorum ecclesiasticorum,
apud eos qui nostrae Pastorali curse commendati sunt, tantisper insti-
tuenda sit, donee Dominus dederit constitui meliorem vel per liberam
et Christianam Synodum, sive Generalem, sive Nationalem vel per
ordines Imperii Nationis Germanicge, in Spiritu Sancto congregates.
BonnjE. ex officina Laurentii, Typographi, anno MDXXXV."
VOL. VII. U
290 LIVES OF THE
original thinker himself. Every document that passed
through his hands came out improved.
The articles were first published by Grafton, the king's
printer, in July 1553, with the following title : "Articles
agreed upon by the Bishops and other learned Men of
England in the Synod of 1552." In the same year was
published a Catechism to which the articles appeared as
an adjunct, and the whole together usually went by the
name of The Catechism. It does not appear that in
framing The Catechism Cranmer bore any part, though it
was published by his authority.
The last important work in which Archbishop Cranmer
was engaged was one peculiarly suited to his talents, and
cong-enial to his legal mind. From the commencement
CD o
of his career he had felt that, as by the repudiation of the
papal supremacy many of our canons had become a dead
letter, so a codification of the old canon law had become,
though not necessary, yet highly important.
The idea of a reformation of the canons did not
indeed originate with him, but to this important subject
his spare moments had for many years been devoted. So
early as the year 1532, before Cranmer had begun to
take much interest in church affairs, the clergy, in their
submission to the king, declared that " there were divers
constitution", ordinances, and canons prejudicial to the
prerogative royal and onerous to the king's subjects ; and
that they were content to commit the revision of them
to thirty-two persons, sixteen of the upper and nether
house of the temporality, and the other sixteen of the
clergy to be chosen and appointed by his most noble
Grace." *
Ey an act of parliament, passed in 1534, the king was
empowered to nominate commissioners, the act iDcing
* Wilkins, iii. 755.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 291
reneAved in 1536 and 1544.* The work of the com- chap.
missioners, amonof whom the primate was the most ac- ^ — ■ — '
, . Thomas
tive, had been nearly brought to a completion when the Cramner.
king died. In 1549 an act was passed enabling King i'533-o6.
Edward VI. to issue a new commission to thirty-two
persons, lay and clerical, for the compilation " of such •
ecclesiastical laws as should be thought by him, his
counsel and them, convenient to be practised in aU the
spiritual courts of the realm." For some reason or other,
the commissioners were never nominated, and the number
required by the statute being deemed unnecessarily great,
a royal commission was issued in IS[ovember 1551, en-
trusting the prosecution of the work to eight persons,
with the primate at their head ; these eight persons
being to be regarded as a sub-committee to a greater
commission to be appointed afterwards. It was a sin-
gular arrangement, designed probably to save the trouble
of a fresh application to parliament. The work had
been so nearly completed in the late reign, that revision
and correction were now all that was required. The
work of revision devolved chiefly on Cranmer, who was
assisted by Dr. Walter Haddon, king's professor of civil
law at Cambridge. The work was composed, but not
published, in Enghsh ; a translation into Latin was made
by Dr. Haddon, who is supposed to have consulted Sir
John Cheke — the style was certainly much superior to the
style in which such documents are generally drawn up.f
* 25 Henry YIII. c. 19 ; 27 Henry VIH. c. 15 ; 35 Henry VHT.
c. 16.
f " Atque hoc modo confectse hae quidem leges sunt, sive eas ecclesi-
asticas sive politicas appellate libeat. Quarum materia ab optimis
nndique legibus petita videtur, non solum ecclesiasticis, sed civilibus
etiam, veterumque Romanorum precipua antiquitate. Summje negotii
prsefuit Tho. Cranmerus, archiepis. Cant. Orationis lumen et splen-
dorem addidit Gualterus Haddonus, vir disertus, et in hac ipsa juris
V 2
292 LIVES OF TJIE
CHAP. Commissioners were engaged in this work during the
, . ^^' . year 1552, and they Avere prepared to submit it to the
xiranmer ^^^^ parhameut and Convocation, when tlieir labours were
1533-56. brought to a termination by the death of Edward VI.
The work was a faihire. No one can read it without
• being impressed by a feehng of Cranmer's great abihty —
a fact the more worthy of note since his learning and
talents were depreciated by his adversaries ; but it was not
what it was designed to be — a codification of the ancient
canons of oiu"' Church. It was a system of sectarian law,
rather than the adaptation of tlie laws of the Catholic to
the exigencies of a national Church. It was not what
King Henry contemplated — a reformation ; it was a new
system based on the expedient, rather than on the eternal
principles of law and equity.
The " Eeformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum" was, never-
theless, a work of high pretensions ; that, probably, on
wdiich Cranmer thought his fame would rest. It was
distributed into fifty-one titles, in imitation of Justinian's
celebrated digest of the Eoman law ; and in imitation of
the addition to the printed copies of the " Pandects," an
appendix, " De Eegulis Juris," was supplied.
We are only concerned vnih. the work so far as it
throws light upon the character and opinions of Cranmer.
Cranmer's extreme opinions with respect to the preroga-
tives of the Crown were unchanged. As the foundation of
all ecclesiastical law, he introduces the king as commanding
all his subjects, everywhere and under every denomination,
to be Christians. By Christianity is meant the Catholic
faith. By the Catholic faith is meant the acceptance of
facultate non imperitus. Quin nee satis scio an Joan. Checi viri siiigu-
laris eidem negotio adjutrix adfuerit manus. Quo factum est, nt
cultiori stylo concinnata3 sint istas leges, quam pro communi ceterarum
legum more." Pref. cd. 1571. Kef. Legum. Cardwell, xxvi.
ARCHBISHOPS OF C.VXTERBURY. 293
the fact of the Holy Trinity, and of the doctrines bearing chap.
upon that fact.* The penalty for denying that truth, and ■ — r— '
for not worshipping the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in craamer.
Trinity, is death. 1533-06.
The next title defines, rather vaguely, the notion of
heresy, and distinguishes the heretic from the schismatic.
JS^otice is then taken of various heretical opinions preva-
lent at the time, and the law is laid down that any heretic
who, having been found guilty, will not renounce his
heretical opinions, shall be handed over to the civil
ir:agistrate, to be punished — but not necessarily by death.
Death awaited those who denied " the fundamental doc-
trine of Christianity, the Cathohc faith, the doctrine of
the ever blessed Trinity ; " but that in other cases punish-
ments milder than death were intended, is evident from
the fact that the outla^\Ty of one convicted of heresy is pro-
vided : he is incapable of being a witness or of making a
will — provisions which Avould be absurd if, on conviction,
he were to be burned as a matter of course. The magis-
trate might condemn any heretic to the stake, but he was
at liberty also to commute the punishment for any act of
* Thus tmder this title is included an acceptance of the three creeds,
of the canonical Scriptures, to the exclusion of the Apocrypha and of
the first five councils ; but, it is added, " quoniam perlongum esset, et
plane opus valde laboriosum, omnia nunc distincte scribere quae catho-
lica fide sunt credenda, sufficere judicamus quae breviter de Summa
Trinitate, de Jesu Christo Domino nostro, et de salute per Eum humano
generi parta, diximus." (Ref. Leg. 7.) It will be remarked and remem-
bered, that death for holding heretical opinions was as much a part of the
Protestant code as the Eoman. With a view to peace, we must never
forget that neither party had a monopoly in the right of persecution. Nor
may we deny the fact that the spirit of persecution still exists, as may
be seen in the proceedings against such churches as St. George's in the
East, and in the speeches of certain lords and gentlemen in either
House of Parliament. Alas for human nature !
"Iliacos intra muros pcccatur et extra."
294
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
lU.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
lieresy, except in cases where tlie fundamental fact of
Christianity was denied.*
On doctrinal subjects it may be presumed that Cran-
mer's opinions were at this time very nearly, if not
entirel}^ what, in accordance with the existing formu-
laries of the Church of England, we should regard as
orthodox. The statements are lucid and decided with
respect to regeneration in baptism and with respect to the
Lord's Supper, as also with reference to the consecration
of bishops, and the ordination of priests and deacons.
Idolatry, magic, %vitchcraft, consultation with conjurors,
and divination by lots are all denounced. Stringent
canons were introduced on the subject of marriage and
divorce, and the duties devolving upon parish officers
were laid down in some detail. Perhaps the most objec-
tionable thing in this document, after the sanguinary
penalties attached to misbelief, is the chapter relating to
predestination. Predestination and election are treated
of in the Lutheran, and not, as has been stated by those
who have not examined the subject, in the Calvinistic
sense ; and the subject was introduced to guard against
the introduction of ultra-protestant views : but if such
* Cranmer was not in advance of his age ; lie tlionght that a heretic
was as much deserving of death as a felon. I have laboured throughout
this work to deal justly in the award of praise and censure to both
Protestants and Papists. But if, looking to our own house, we must
not throw stones in what regards the subject of jiersecution, we may
safely affirm that no such disregard for truth has been of late years dis-
played by Protestants as there has been by their opponents. The
conduct of the French translator of " Eanke's History of the Popes "
has been branded by the indignation of Macaulay and Milman. The
latter observes that the most unscrupulous bigot will hardly attempt to
justify the publishing, as the sentiments and opinions of an author,
sentiments and opinions which he has not authorised and would utterly
repudiate as directly opposite to his own. But even worse than this
was the infamous proceeding of hiring Cobbett to employ his powerfid
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 295
subjects were to be introduced not only into confessions chap.
' TTT
of faith — and many think that they are out of place even v — ,1^
there — but into codes of law, other similar subjects could cranmer.
not be excluded, and the fetters placed upon the mind io33-56.
would become unbearable.
From the adoption of this Cranmerian code the Church
was, in providential mercy, saved ; when it was nearly
completed, by the death of Henry VIII. ; and again when
it was ready for a royal proclamation to establish it,- by the
timely death of Edward VI. The Puritans having given
a Calvinistic turn to articles and canons — designed to con-
ciliate them, without, however, endorsing theu' opinions —
attempted to have the proposed code established by act
of parhament in 1571 ; but the wisdom of Queen Ehza-
beth, who would not permit parliament to legislate for
the Church independently of the Crown and of Convoca-
tion, frustrated the manoeuvres of a minority in the house
of commons, and maintained the Church in the enjoy-
ment of its ancient liberties. On the subjects relating to
the Quinquarticular controversy, and many others, upon
which the Puritans would have bound us, men are free to
think, to speak, and to write, subject only to the moral
persecution which leaves all but the temper and feelings
intact.
The Church remained, as it stiU remains, under those
ancient canons enacted in a long succession of synods
" from the days of Augustine to the present time, modified
pen to write a " History of the Eeformation," in ^yhich every refuted fact
is asserted as an indisputable historical statement. But even worse
than this is the fact that this book of lies is stiU industriously circulated
by leading men of the Eomish persuasion. It is represented to
foreigners as the only authentic history of the English Eeformation.
We fear not the result, for we know who is the father of lies. But
such conduct on the part of those who profess and call themselves
Christians, afflicts the heart of all who serve the God of truth.
206 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, ill their application by acts of parliament, by royal in-
^-i_l_. junctions, by the constitutions and canons and ecclesias-
CranmeJ. tical statutcs agreed upon in 1603," and by the judgments
1533-56. given in our ecclesiastical courts.
If over our ecclesiastical courts, with a few splendid
exceptions, judges have presided who have been unequal
to the high position to Avhich they have been called, who
have been unable to distinguish what is catholic from what
is papal, and who have unjustly interpreted our Prayer
£ook — a reform of the Missal and the Breviary — not by
reference to ancient customs and canons, but by their
own private opinions, formed in some ultra-protestant
school — if the highest court has expressed a judgment
under the direction of men who have hated the Church,
because their deeds are evil — we can only say that the
Church has been unfortunate in her members, and we
may be permitted to hope that, as in the courts of com-
mon law and equity, men have been chosen, except in
the case of Lord High Chancellor, not from political but
from professional excellence — so the day may come when
over our spiritual courts judges may be appointed to
preside who will understand that the duty of a judge is
to abide by a law, however imperfect, and not regard in
his decision the favour of the crowd, the plaudits of a
religious mob, or the smiles of aristocratic intolerance.
Cranmer's labours in this, as in everything else, were
brouffht to a termination by the death of Edward YI,
It is sometimes presumed that Cranmer's influence was
great in the court of the young king ; but for this, as for
many other historical conjectures, when made by incom-
petent persons, we look in vain for proof. From the
young king's diary, indeed, we should draw the opposite
conclusion. ^Yith a fanatical and wrong-headed boy a
man so courteous, calm, and prudent as Cranmer, was
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 297
not likely to be a favourite ; and we have many instances chap.
of an impatience of contradiction displayed by Edward. — A--
His dislike of Somerset most probably arose from the Cranmer.
fact that tlie Protector, in coercing the boy, acted more io33-56.
with the authority of the uncle than with the flattery of
the courtier.
The archbishop himself declares that he was so much
out of favour with Northumberland, that he sometimes
thought his life in danger ; and he expressly asserts that
to the duke's intrigues to divert the succession of the
Crown he was an entire stranger, until he was sent for
to the court to perform an official act by appending his
name to a document which had been previously drawn
up.*
When Northumberland had succeeded, by an appeal to
the fanaticism of the king, in his conspiracy to divert the
succession to the Crown in favour of his daughter-in-law,
he was aware of the obstinacy of Edward's character, and
he thought he might with safety summon the archbishop to
court. Cranmer's signature to the instrument, sanction-
ing the proposed resolution, was almost a necessity, be-
cause, although, being without ambition as a statesman,
he had ceded the post of honour to others, he had been
placed by Henry's will at the head of the Eegency.
Cranmer felt his responsibility and opposed the pro-
ceeding. The fact of his acting eventually against the
dictates of his conscience, renders his weakness on this oc-
casion the more inexcusable. At the same time we must
in fairness admit, that when he began to waver, strong
* The archbishop expressly says : " The duke never opened his
mouth to me, (to) move me to any such matter. Nor his heart was
not such towards me (seeking long time my destruction) that he would
ever trust me in such a matter, or think that I would be persuaded by
him." Remains, ii. 362.
298 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, arguments could be adduced to palliate, if not to justify,
,J . his conduct. To a man of Cranmer's character, the fact
that all the council except one, including the secretary
Cecil, had yielded to the persuasions of the king, who
had made the subject personal to himself, would have
very great weight. He could not read men's hearts. He
could not know that such a man as Cecil was belying his
convictions by the course he was taking ; and who was
he that he should stand alone in an affair in favour of
which his predilections could not fail to be strong ? for he
could not expect any favour from the daughter of Katha-
rine of Aragon. This hne of argument w^ould come to
him with greater force when he was informed that the
Chief Justice and the judges w^ho had entertained the same
opinion as himself, had at length receded from it. Then,
again, by several enactments in the late reign, the prin-
ciple seemed to have been conceded that the sovereign,
with the consent of parliament, had power to divert the
succession to the crown from the immediate claimant.
Mary, and Elizabeth also, though they had been appointed
to succeed in default of issue from the kincr's marriasje with
Queen Jane, and afterwards with Queen Catherine (Parr),
had nevertheless been declared illegitimate ; and, even as
it was, if either princess had married without the consent
of the Privy Council, by the enactment of the thirty-fifth
of Henry VIH., she was to be passed over, as if she had
died without lawful issue. In the exclusion of the Queen
of Scots, Edward merely followed the provisions of his
father's will.
It is fair to Cranmer to mention these perplexities, and
to remind the reader that the law of succession generally
was not at that time as clearly defined as it is now. One
of the difficulties arose from the doubt whether a female
could succeed to the throne. The king's " device," in the
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 299
first instance, Avould have excluded Jane, in favour of her chap.
Ill
heirs male. But, after all, Cranmer was too clear-sighted -- — A — -
not to detect the sophistry by which the " device " was craumer.
supported, and, as was usual mth him, he did not jdeld io33-56.
at last, until an appeal was made to his feelings.
He was summoned to the royal j^resence. The young
king lay before him in the last stage of a pulmonary con-
sumption. His eye was still bright, and he was as self-
willed as ever. He had just before overruled the Chief
Justice Montague and the judges. When they declined
to reduce the king's " device " into legal form, without the
sanction of parliament, the despotic boy angrily exclaimed,
" No ; I will have this thing done immediately, and it
shall be ratified by parliament afterwards. I therefore
command you to fulfil my orders without further delay."
Thus spoke the son of Henry. With his father's friend
the Primate of all England, with more than his father's
tact, he pursued a different course. He listened to the
archbishop with patience. But the Marquis of Northamp-
ton and Lord Darcy were present, and in those perilous
times, any expressions that might have escaped the
archbishop's lips, would have been afterwards produced
and perverted to his injury. The intimidated Cranmer
wished for freedom of speech, and asked for a private
interview. He would, in ordinary times, have had a right
as a peer and a privy councillor to claim it ; but the privy
council now acted together as the regency, and it was not
therefore permitted that one member should approach the
king to speak to him on a political subject without the
presence of others to represent the remaining members of
the body. Northumberland had used the word traitor to
Sir Edward Montague, and this implied a possible prose-
cution, for the ofience, with its terrible consequences to
the criminal. He rebuked the primate, telling him at the
300
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
1533-56.
council-table that in endeavourinfr to dissuade the kinjr
from his will, he had exceeded his powers. Cranmer still
hesitated. The intimidated judges produced the " device "
in the proper form to receive the signature of the council.
Cranmer said, " I cannot set my hand to this instrument
without committing perjury, for I have sworn to the suc-
cession of the Lady Mary, according to the late king's
testament." The answer was that the other members of
the council had subscribed, and that in doing so their
consciences did not accuse them of having committed the
sin of perjury. Cranmer answered, " I judge no man's
conscience, but my own. I cannot, however, allow my
conscience to be guided by other men's acts." He was
reminded that the legal authorities had pronounced the
king competent to dispose of his crown by will. This
was, of course, intended to silence him ; it was an appeal
ad verecundiam ; but Cranmer saw that it was no vaHd
answer to his objection, and he remained unmoved and in-
flexible. He was summoned again into the royal presence,
and attended by the members of the council, he waited
upon the king. The dying boy, pale and cadaverous,
lay before him — the royal boy, his godson, whom he had
loved as his own child, the son of his benefactor and
friend, whom he had crowned and faithfully served ;
there he lay on his death-bed, too ill to argue, but reso-
lute, determined, regarding this his last act as an act of
duty to his God, his country, and himself. In justice to
Cranmer, let us call all this to mind. Cranmer stood at
the side of the couch to receive the last request of one
whom he revered as a dying saint. " I hope," said
Edward, " I hope that you will not stand out, and not be
more repugnant to my will than all the rest of the council.
The judges have informed me that I may lawfully bequeath
my crown to the Lady Jane, and that my subjects may
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBUKV. SOI
lawfully receive her as queen, notwithstanding the oath char
which they took under mv father's will." The kins; had r-^ — '
TVi
learned his lesson well. Cranmer still hesitated. He crduincr.
quitted the royal presence. He consulted the judges, io33-56,
who were in attendance. He returned to the sick
chamber ; he took a last look at his godson, and he signed
the fatal document. This, considering the light in which
Cranmer had regarded the subject, was an awful fall. He
fell ; but it was not from fear of death — he fell because
he would not hurt the feelings of the dying youth.
Twenty-three names were attached to a written pro-
mise, pledging the oaths and honours of the subscribers
to maintain the order of succession as limited in King
Edward's "device." The perjur}" committed by all,
including Cecil, was such as to involve the parties con-
cerned in eternal disgrace. They swore to Edward that
they would observe his w^ill, they swore allegiance to
Jane, and in swearing allegiance afterwards to Mary,
they swore that they had originally designed to perjure
themselves — all but Cranmer. When Cranmer had com-
mitted himself, he remained faithful to "the meek usurper"
to the last.* The judges told him that he was exonerated
from the oath he had made to observe King Henry's will ;
he believed them not, yet he acted on their dictum ; and
the same kind heart which yielded to the petitions of the
dying Edward, induced him to remain loyal to Jane,
though she, when she knew all, was free to admit that
the proceedings which made her, as the French ambas-
sador said, " a twelfth-day queen," were utterly unjusti-
fiable and nefarious.
Whetlier Cranmer officiated at the funeral of Edward
VI. is very doubtful. The interment took place at West-
* Tliis ^\•as one of the charges brought against him when he ap-
peared in the Star Chamber on the 14th of September, 1553.
302 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, minster Abbey on the 9tli of August, and Bishop Day,
^ — - who was soon after restored to the see of Chichester, of
Cranir.er. which hc had bccn deprived by Cranmer, preached the
1533-56. sermon. He made an excuse for the conduct of the late
king, in sanctioning the alterations in Church and State,
which took place during his reign. He reviled Edward's
advisers. He eulogized Queen Mary. According to God-
win, Day celebrated as well as preached.* The service
was the reformed service, and the Communion adminis-
tered in connexion with the service was in Eno-lish. It
is very probable, that Day may have objected to use this
service, the only service which it was lawful to use, and
that Cranmer may have been appointed to officiate that
he might hear himself reviled by Day, who had formerly
been his friend ; and who, up to a certain point, had
co-operated with him in the work of reformation.
But if this were the case, Cranmer must have had a
special licence to leave the precincts of Lambeth. For
immediately after the queen's arrival in London, he was
summoned to attend the council ; and having been repri-
manded for the part he had taken in the revolution
attempted in favour of the Lady Jane, he was ordered
to confine himself to his manor at Lambeth, and to hold
himself in readiness for another summons.
He was subjected to no other hardship, and many
there were who now resorted to him for comfort and
consolation ; and among these came Peter Martyr. This
distinguished foreigner had been suspended from his pro-
* Godwin, 110. Burnet and Strype assert that Cranmer officiated.
ITeylin is silent upon the subject. It is said that the queen had a mass of
requiem celebrated next day in the Tower for the benefit of Edward's
soul. (Noailles, ii. 109 ; Heylin, i. 298.) Sanders, 248, makes the
same assertion, but remarks that the queen afterwards, " melius postea
instituta," would not permit prayers to be offered for the soul either of
her father or of her brother.
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 303
fessorship at Oxford, and souQ'lit a refuge at Lambeth. The chap.
."^ r . . Ill
archbishop could not offer him protection, and advised him • — r— ^
to return home to Florence. Cranmer's advice to his friends Cranmer.
in general was to fly the country, and there seems to be io33-o6.
little doubt that the queen's government, scarcely know-
ing how to deal with an archbishop under his circum-
stances, purposely afforded him opportunities to escape.
When urged by some of his friends to act upon the
advice he had given to others, and to withdraw clandes-
tinely from the country, he saw clearly the distinction to
be made between his case and theirs. He said, " Were
I likely to be called in question for treason, robbery, or
some other crime, I should be much more hkely to
abscond than I am at present. As it is, the post which I
hold and the part I have taken require me to make a
stand for the truths of holy Scripture. I shall there-
fore undergo with constancy the loss of life, rather than
remove secretly from the realm."
It was nobly resolved. ISTo man knows his own weak-
ness till he is tried to the uttermost. He directed his
attention to the adjustment of his affairs, and arranged
all pecuniary matters. But what strikes us as extra-
ordinary is that he did not seem to think that he would
be accused of treason for the part he had taken in the
attempted revolution in favour of Queen Jane ; and
throug;liout the remainder of his life he was resolute in
denying that he was a traitor.
It was now that the leading reformers of the Church of
England seem to have laid down the rule on which they
were to act, if the past reformation in the Church's dis-
cipline and doctrine were reversed, and practices renewed
against which the leading men in Church and State had
protested.
I. Those who, like Cranmer and Eidley, had made
304 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, themselves responsible for the series of reformations in-
...^^}' . troduced in the reigns of Henry and Edward, very pro-
CrlTmel. P^rly determined that their duty it was to remain in the
1533-56. country, to testify that they considered the changes they
had introduced to be of vital importance. They were to
abide in their respective stations, to vindicate the past,
and to persuade the government to persevere in the prin-
ciples of reform. Calm, dignified, truly religious, were
they in their bearing. They did not court persecution ;
they did not fear it. They would escape if they could ;
but not at the sacrifice of any of those principles they had
laboured to establish. They did not seek to introduce
Protestantism, considered as a system, which in truth it
never became ; but they had raised their protest, and
would continue to raise it, against the pope, and against
those doctrines which were regarded as distinguishing
papal from catholic Christianity.
II. Others there were, such as Cecil destined to be-
come the great Lord Burghley, Sir Thomas Smith, and
others, who were unjustly judged and considered as ci'a-
vens or traitors in modern times. We are obliged to reite-
rate our warning against the supposition, that all who were
in the sixteenth century opposed to the pope and popery
must have been Protestants on the Exeter Hall pattern,
and that they ought to have been ready to die for Pro-
testantism. The statesmen of Cecil's stamp were men
who, although they desired to see the Church reformed,
did not feel called upon to defend, at peril of life and
limb, the alterations in discipline? or in dogma, which had
taken place in King Edward's vei^xn. Without aoTeeino;
in an approbation of all that had been done in the two
preceding reigns, they had conformed under the regula-
tions of Henry YIII. ; they had rendered obedience
to Edward's act of uniformity ; and without weighing
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 305
nicely the difference between cousubstantiation and tran- chap.
. • III
substantiation, they yielded obedience also to the eccle- r^ —
siastical laws enforced by the government of Mary. They cranmer.
preferred a royal to a papal supremacy ; but if the queen 1533-06.
and the country thought otherwise, it was their business
as good subjects " to do as they were bid." This was not
high ground to take ; but it w^as ground perfectly intelli-
gible to men like Cranmer, Eidley, and Latimer, although
they felt that it did not become them to take it. It is
important to keep these cases before us, to render
Cranmer's subsequent conduct intelligible. Men of this
stamp were not molested, they only remained without
preferment. The government had its eye upon them ;
they were suspected and watched ; it was known that they
would gladly see a change in the policy of the countiy,
and that they were discontented ; but still if they re-
mained quiet, there was no wish to shed their blood.
in. There were impassioned zealots, men to be hon-
oured for their sincerity and virtue ; but who certainly
had, many of them, a zeal without knowledge. When they
saw men martyred, they became fmrioiis in their indigna-
tion ; not distinsuishino; between the officer and the man,
they fiercely attacked the magistrate or the official when
performing his duty, and brought disgrace upon the cause
they advocated by a violence and ribaldry, which at the
same time provoked their opponents to acts of violence
and deeds of blood, and brought disgrace upon the pro-
vokers and the provoked, upon the Christian cause in
general.
r\'. There were cold, avaricious, ambitious statesmen
who cared for none of the things of religion ; w^ho advo-
cated the cause of reform under Henry and Edward in
order that they might enrich themselves by the spoils of
abbeys and shrines ; wdio were bribed under Mary, by
VOL. VII. X
306 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, permission given them to retain their spoils, to apply, or
- — r^ — ■ rather to misapply their statesmanship — their unques-
Cranmer. tionecl abilities — to uphold the cause of the pope, so long
1533-56. as it was the cause of the queen, just as they had formerly
encouraged the extreme licentiousness of the ultra-Pro-
testants, in order that they might exercise dominion over
the fanatical mind of King Edward. When they thought
that tlie accession of Jane would be acceptable to the
people, they were prepared for a revolution; when she
was proclaimed under an ominous silence, they made
their peace with Mary ; and, the sincerity of their loyalty
being suspected, they were violent partizans of the queen's
religion ; and to these men — the Arundels, the Pembrokes,
the Eussells and the Pagets, as well as to the queen
herself — are to be attributed the persecutions which have
stamped the reign of Mary with an epithet, which no
power of sophistry will ever efface.
The attempt is made to fasten the blame of the perse-
cutions upon Gardpier and Bonner. When we examine
the facts of history, instead of relying on the statements of
partizans, we must come to the conclusion that this is
incorrect witli regard to Gardyner ; and, coarse and
unfeeling as Bonner was, even with respect to him, it is
only partially true.
Gardyner had been an opponent of the papal supre-
macy in the reign of Henry VIII. ; but in his prison,
durino- the reicn of Edward, he had come to the conclusion
that the exercise of tlie royal supremacy might be ren-
dered more intolerable and unjust than that which the
Bishop of Eome had usurped. He was, therefore, pre-
pared to change his principles in regard to the supremacy,
although it was with reluctance that he yielded to the re-
establishment of a despotism which Henry had destroyed.
That he felt no more compunction at burning a heretic
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY. 307
tlian Cranmer, or Bonner, or Calvin, is certain ; but chap.
as a matter of fact, there was not one person burnt when - — A — -
lie was at the zenith of his power in 1553-54; and in cranmer.
the last year of his life fewer were bnrnt than at any 1-^33-00.
other period of Mary's reign. His bitterest enemy in the
preceding reign had been the Duke of Northumberland;
yet he not only visited the duke, when this great traitor
was in the Tower, but he pleaded for his life, and if it
had not been for the interference of Charles V., he would
have succeeded.* No one had been a more stanch op-
ponent of the Bishop of Winchester than Peter Martyr ;
but when it was debated in Council whether that re-
former should be detained in England to answer for his
conduct, as an English subject, Gardyner, being Lord
Chancellor, not only exerted his interest in his favour,
but supplied him liberally with all things necessary to
expedite his departure. f "Wlien we consider the treat-
ment which Gardyner himself had received, this conduct
is the more praiseworthy. The wise and witty, though
we fear not highly moral reformer, Eoger Ascham, when
writing to another reformer, John Sturmius, equally
zealous with himself, uses these terms : — " Stephen,
Bishop of Winchester, High Chancellor of England,
treated me with the utmost humanity and favour, so
that I cannot easily decide whether Paget was more
ready to commend me, or Winchester to protect and
benefit me ; there were not wanting some who, on the
ground of rehgion, attempted to stop the flow of his
benevolence towards me, but to no puqDose. I owe very
much therefore to the humanity of Winchester, and
not only I, but many others also, have experienced his
kindness.";]:
* Burnet, iii. 222. f Wood, Hist. Univ. Oxford, 275.
:|: Ep. p. 51, ed. Oxon. 1703.
X 2
308 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Hadrian Junius, a physician to Edward VI., and a
_i^^l_. zealous Protestant, is equally warm in the praises of
Jranmer Grardyucr.* We have the highest evidence possible, that
1533-56. of Simon Kenard, in a confidential letter to the emperor,
that instead of being the enemy of Queen Elizabeth,
Gardyner prevented her destruction as urged upon Mary
by the Spanish ambassador and by Charles.f Although
in Cranmer's answer to Gardyner there occur some
bitter expressions which show that there existed between
them feelings of personal hostility, and although Cranmer
had deprived Gardyner of his liberty in the reign of
Edward VI., yet to Gardyner Cranmer "svas indebted for
his liberty, when, upon an occasion to which we shall
* Ep. 12. Speed, the chronicler, 828, attributes the advice to put
to death the Princess Elizabeth, with great probability, to Lord Paget.
Although I am of course opposed to Gardyner's principles, and although
1 regard him as a worldly statesman rather than a divine, I must
remember that I am writing history, and I hope that the spirit of per-
secution will not be displayed against me for stating facts as I find
them, though partizans have thought fit to suppress or torture them.
Although Gardyner was a Papist, I do not forget that he was a Chris-
tian. Foxe, speaking of the death of Gardyner, says : " His death
liappened so opportunely, that England hath a mighty cause to give
thanks to the Lord .... especially for that he had thought
to have brought to pass in murdering the noble queen that noiv is. For,
whatsoever danger it was of death, that she was in, it did, no doubt,
proceed from the bloody bishop, icho zcas the cause thereof. And, if
it be certain, which we have heard, that, her Highness being in the
Tower, a writ came down from certain of the council for her execution,
it is out of coiitroversy that wily Winchester was the Avily Dtedalus and
framer of that engine, who, no doubt, in that one day, had brought
this whole i-ealm into woful ruin, had not the Lord's most gracious
counsel, through Mr. Bridges, then the lieutenant, coming in haste to
the queen, certified her of the matter, and prevented Achitojihers
bloody device." (iii. 450.) This is a fair specimen of Foxe's style of
writing history.
■]• See a transcript of the original letter at Brussels, dated March 14,
1553-54, in Tytlcr, ii. 336.
AKCUBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 309
liave presently to refer, every one expected tliat the chap.
archbishop would be sent to the Tower. So far from >— ^^^^
desiring the archbishop's death, Gardyner proposed to cranmer.
remove him from his dignity, and to allow him a pension.* 1533-56.
By one of the exiles who was most opposed to Gardyner,
the latter is accused of having strained his authority as
chancellor, and, without the consent of the queen or
council, to have offered Latimer a pardon if he would
recant ; that he laboured to save men from death by
trying to persuade them to forsake w^hat he regarded as
their errors, is admitted by all.
Dr. Bonner was a very different man from Dr. Gardyner.
He was convivial, vulgar, coarse-minded, unfeeling, and
insolent. There was in him more humour than Avit, and
he could not at times refrain from making heartless jokes
though the questions before him related to life and death.
We may apply to him a vulgar term, and we shall best
describe him by calling him " a bully," But this is no
reason why falsehood should be invented for the purpose
of blackening a character in itself sufficiently revolting ;
the falsehoods being propagated by the Puritans, because
he was a bishop. There is no reason why it should be
recorded as a fact, poetically adorned, that when a martyr
perished,
" Bonner, blithe as shepherd at a wake
Enjoyed the show and danced about the stake."
Or take another specimen : —
" This cannibal, in three years' space, three hundred martyrs slew.
These were his food; he loved so blood, he spared none he knew." f
* Biog. Brit. iii. 2119.
f Dr. Maitland agi-ees with Hume in stating tlie number of legal
murders committed in Mary's reign to be 277. Of these, not one-half
came imder the cognizance of Bonner. I Lave quoted a Protesfcint,
110
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranraer.
1533-56.
Dr. Maitlaud, whose " conscience acquits him of all
sympathy with any person of whatever party or name
(Cranmer, Calvin, or Bonner), in so for as he thought of
maintaining or enforcing Christianity by fire and faggot,"
states that it has been proved that Bonner, instead of
seeking for cases of reputed heresy, confined himself to
the administration of the law — a most unrig^hteous law —
vrithin his own diocese ; and when the justices from
other counties sent heretics to him, he sent them back
and refused to have anything to do with them. By the
same writer it is shown, that the admitted coarsenesses of
Bonner have been much exacfo-e rated, and what was
CD ■
often nothing more than a vulgar jest, has been represented
as expressing a reality. One thing is certain, that instead
of urging the government to tlie adoption of more strin-
gent measures, Bonner was more than once rebuked, in
common with the other bishops, by Queen Mary and
her government for not carrying on the bloody work
against the heretics with greater severity.* A royal
who ^\Tites in the spirit of a candid enquirer ; let me add what is said
by Mr. Tierney, a Koman Catholic priest of Sussex : — "As to the uum-
her and character of the sufferers, certain it is that no allowances can
relieve the horror, no palliatives can remove the infamy, that must for
ever attach to these proceedings. The amount of real victims is too
great to be affected by any partial deductions. "Were the catalogue
limited to a few persons, we might pause to examine the merits of each
individual case ; but when, after the removal of every doubtful or
objectionable name, a frightful list of not fewer than two hvuidred still
remains, we can only turn Avith horror from the blood-stained page,
and be thankful that such things have passed away." Tieruey's Dodd,
ii. 107, note.
* Puritan and infidel writers are acciistomed to transfer the blame
of the persecutions from ]Mary and the council to the bishojos. Sir
James jNIackintosh more justly remarks, that, "in the fourteen dioceses
then filled, the bishops used their influence as altogether to prevent
bloodshed in nine, and to reduce it within limits in the remaining five."
ii. 328.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTEEBUKY. 311
circular was sent to him and to all the bishops, in May ch.\p.
. Ill
1555, expressing surprise and regret that greater strict- r^ — ■
ness had not been used to suppress the prevalent errors ; craumer.
and commanding that all persons charged with heresy io33-56.
sliould be made to abandon their opmions, or, if they
should continue obstinate, to suffer according to the order
of the laws.* It is not true that Bonner dehberately
sought for victims ; what made him odious was the \T.ilgar,
bullying personalities in which he indulged when the
heretic, brought before him as a judge, provoked his
angry passions. He Avas irascible ; but bad as that was in
a judge, he was not the person most to be blamed.
The queen's council was composed of men who, many
of them, had changed tlieir opinions according to their
interests, and who regarded as perverse and obstinate all
who refused to do the same. They were not anxious for
persecution, and would have advised the opposite course
as the better policy ; but, to save their places, they would
do as the queen willed. An attempt is made at the
present time to detach from the name of Mary the epithet
which wiU cling to it for ever. The question is not
whether she was in some cases an amiable woman ; but
whether she was a persecutor. It is no answer to this
accusation to prove that she could be kind to those who
obeyed her orders, that she cherished her mother's
memory, that she braved her father's and her brother's
tyranny, that she was able to love even to distraction the
wretched profligate to whom she had unwisely given her
heart. That heart wdiich could be soft as wax under one
set of circumstances, could under another set of circum-
stances be cold and hard as ice. Her conduct to Eliza-
beth was as bad as it could be, and she never would
* Burnt't, Collections?, No. xx. v. 431.
312 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, forgive Cranmer the part lie had taken in the case of her
•^ ,J - mother's divorce. As to persecution, the course she took
Cranmer. was such as oftcu marks a weak intellect in connexion
1533-56. ^^,^|.]j ^ determined will. There can be but a right and a
wrong, and wrong must be punished. Protestants are in
the wrong ; let them repent or be punished. The law
must be obeyed. The law says that the punishment for
heresy is burning ; let the heretic be burned. The Church
says that heresy is a crime which brings, if tolerated, ruin
on a country ; let the country be saved from ruin by
searching for heretics and by destroying them. This was
her principle of action. Such a person felt no com-
punctious visitings of nature when ordering the law to
take its course ; rather she felt that she was showing a
becoming firmness ; and the persons mostly to be blamed
were those, her counsellors — Gallios themselves — who
ought to have been prepared to die rather than to en-
courage her in her wrong doing by their ready obedience.
No one counselled her to mercy. Eenard cared not for
heretics ; but the execution of political offenders was to
the politician a work to which the queen should be
urged. The Lady Jane and the Greys were to be sacri-
ficed to her passion for Philip ; and nothing but a fear of
the venn;eance which awaited her from the whole kinordom
prevented her from destroying the Lady Elizabeth. On
one occasion, when the council, alarmed at the sensation
caused throughout the country by the executions, per-
suaded Mary to release certain of the prisoners, she
afterwards lamented her weakness to Eenard. " The
queen," says Eenard, writing to the emperor in Feb-
ruary 1553-4, " has granted a general pardon to a
multitude of people in Kent, after having caused about
live score of the most guilty to be executed. Numerous
are the petitions presented to her Majesty to have the
AECHBISHOPS OF CAXTEKBUEY. 313
pains of death exchanged for perpetual imprisonment, but chap.
to this she will not listen."* - — A — -
The same confidential correspondent of the emperor, cranmer.
writing to him in April 1554, says of Throckmorton : — 1533-06.
" He was acquitted by the twelve jurymen who had
been chosen and impanelled, and who were all heretics ;
there being no doubt that in spite of the verdict he
deserved to be condemned. And when they carried him
back to the Tower (after his acquittal), the people with
great joy raised shouts, and threw their caps in the ah' ;
which has so displeased the queen, that she has been ill
for three days, and has not yet got quite the better of it."f
Of the persecutions themselves I shall speak in tlie
words of a Eoman Catholic clergyman, who, we would
fain hope, represents the opinions of his class : — " To
detail the atrocities would be a revolting task : the
mind would shudder, the heart sicken at the recital.
Suffice it, therefore, to say, that the persecution continued
to rage until the death of Mary. At times, indeed, a
momentary suspension of cruelty seemed to indicate the
presence of a milder spirit. But the illusion was quickly
dissipated. New commissions were issued, new bar-
barities were enacted, and a monument of infamy was
erected, which, even at the distance of three centuries,
cannot be regarded without horror. "J
The truth is that the Eeformation was seriously
damaged by the gang of unprincipled robbers, including
Somerset and iSTorthumberland, who had formed the
council of Edward VI. The counsellors of Mary, equally
unprincipled, Avere willing to concede everj^thmg to the
stern policy of Queen Mary so long as they were not
* Simon Renard to the Emperor, Feb. 22, 1553-4 ; Tjtler, ii. 309.
t Tytler, ii. 37-4.
\ Dodd, Ch. Hist, of England, ii. 103, note.
314 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, compelled to disgorge their prey. A new generation
—^.Ji^ learned wisdom under Queen Elizabeth.* Terrible times
Thomas ,i
Cranmer. ^VerC theSe.
io33-o6. To return to Cranmer. We left the archbishop a
prisoner at large, or rather not under restraint, in his
manor-house at Lambeth. His resolution was taken to
die, if need should be, a martyr's death. He was pre-
paring his mind for the coming events by his favourite
study of Scripture and by prayer. His wife, his children,
were far away. It would be offering to his enemies
a subject for attack, if he had retained them with him,
thougli for their society at this period of anxiety his
whole soul yearned. The calmness of his mind was
interrupted by one of those cruel reports which, origi-
nating in the father of hes, are in themselves a persecution.
It was reported, that in order to gain favour with the
new queen, he had offered to celebrate King Edward's
obsequies, not as the law required, according to the order
in the book of Common Prayer, but with the old Latin
* We are not to suppose tliat the stern cluiracter of Mary's policy
was confined to the prosecution or persecution of heretics ; it equally
marked the prosecution or persecution of all offenders against the law,
especially traitors. A contemporary says : — " This day was ther set upp
at every gate of London a galouse, and at the brige-fote one, in South-
warke ij paire, at Leaden-hall one, ij in Chepeside, in Fleetestrete and
about Charing crosse iij or foure paire, and in many other places about
the city. In Kent also, and many places more, ther Avas raysed gallouses,
a great sorte. That day and on Thursday there was condempnyd of
the rebelles to the nonibre of cccc or thereaboutes. All the prisons of
London 'was so full that they were fayne to keep the poorest sort by
iiij-'^-'' on a hepp in churches. On Wednysday following was hanged in
sondery places of the citey to the nombre of xxvjt« or more. On Thurs-
day, in Southwarke, and other places of the subburbes, there was
hanged a great numbre ; this day being the x\^^ of February, ther was
X prysoners out of the Tower arrayned and caste, whose names doe
folloAve." Chron. of Queen Jane and Queen ^Mary, ed. Camd. Soc. p. 59.
AUCHBISIIOPS OF CANTERBURY. 315
mass of requiem. This report might be easily refuted ; chap,
but the fact was stated also that in the metropolitan — ^ -
church of Canterbury the mass had been already restored, cranmer
The restoration, contrary to law, of the proscribed service io33-56.
in the primate's own cathedral, was adduced as a clear proof
of the time-serving disposition of the archbishop, and what
was worse, it tended to dishearten those conscientious
persons who were waiting in anxiety to know what course
of conduct the new government was about to pursue. It
was generally supposed that Mary would be contented to
place the Church on the same footing on which it had
been left by her father. Did the archbishop mean to
sanction this mode of proceeding? Was all that had
been done in Edward's reign to be nullified at once ?
We are to remember that there was a large class of
persons in every parish who were w^illing to do whatever
their superiors in Church and State should decree.
Cranmer felt his responsibility. He enquired, and found
that the mass had been restored at Canterbury. So far,
then, the report was true ; but it was restored by the
Vice-Dean — the dignitary in residence — Dr. Thornden,
without consultation with the archbishop.* The arch-
bishop saw the difiiculties of the case, and fully appre-
ciated the evil consequences which, would ensue, if the
reports were not contradicted. He sat down immediately,
and in the first burst of his indignation he gave expres-
sion to his feehugs in a letter to a friend. The letter
was written, but not sent ; it lay, probably for revision,
on his study table, when on the 5th of September he
* It is sometimes stated that Dr. Thornden was a personal friend of
the archbishop. If this was the case, it must have added to Cranmer's
difficulties. But the authorities which dwell on this point, in general,
confound Thornden with his predecessor Tregworth, who was certainly
a friend of Cranmer.
61b LIVES OF THE
CH.iP. received a visit from Bisliop Scoiy. The prelate read the
^__,J— letter, and approved of it so much that he begged for a
Cranmer. ^opy. It is probablc that Scory, knowing the vacillating
1533-oG. and timid character of Cranmer, who, like other men in
liigh places, was afi^aid of acting on the spur of the
moment, determined to give it to the pubhc as it came
warm from the heart and brain of the worried and angry
archbishop. Certain it is that the letter was soon in
other hands, and being again transcribed, was pubhcly
read at Cheapside. All London was astir to obtain a
copy of the manuscript. The sensation was great. It
was not printed, but e\eTj scrivener was writing out a
copy of it.* It ran thus : —
" As the Devilj Clirist's ancient adversary, is a liar and the
father of lying, even so hath he stirred up his servants and
members to persecute Christ and His true Word and religion
with lying : which he ceaseth not to do most earnestly at this
present time. For as a prince of most famous memory.
King Henry YIIL, seeing the great abuses of the Latin mass,
reformed some things in his time ; and after, our Sovereign
Lord King Edward VI. took the same wholly away for the
great and manifold errors and abuses of thfe same, and restored
in the place thereof Christ's holy Supper according to Christ's
own institution, and as the Apostles used the same in the
primitive Church in the beginning : so the Devil goeth about now
* The declaration is transcribed from the MS. copy in the Library
of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. At the close of the Latin version
of the declaration, published 1554, it is said: — "Lecta publice in vico
mercatorum ab amico qui clam autograplmni surripuerat, 5 Septemb.
anno Dom. 1553." This undoubtedly shows that the document was not
published Avith Cranmer's sanction. We have his own authority for
stating that he intended to publish it, but he would probably have
softened some expressions; not that Cranmer was averse from using
strong language when the occasion required it, as may be seen from bis
controversy with Gardyner. His eulogists think it neces.«ary to apolo-
gise for the manner in which he speaks of the vice-dean ; but when a
man feels dcej)]y he speaks strongly, and ought to do so.
1533-56.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 317
by l3nng to overthrow the Lord's Supper again, and to restore cHAP.
his late satisfactory masses, a thing of his own invention and ^_]}^__^
device. And to bring the same more easily to pass, some have Thomas
abused the name of me, Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury,
bi'uiting abroad that I have set up the mass again at Canter-
bury, and that I offered to say mass at the burial of our late
^Sovereign Prince King Edward, and also that I offered to say
mass before the queen's Highness, and at St. Paul's Church,
and I wot not where. And although I have been well exercised
these twenty years to suffer and bear evil reports and lies, and
have not been much grieved thereat, but have borne all things
quietly, yet untrue reports to the hinderance of God's truth are
in no wise to be tolerated and suffered. ^Mlerefore these be to
signify to the world, that it was not I that did set up the mass
at Canterbury, but it was a false, lying, and dissimuling monk,
which caused mass to be set up there without mine advice or
counsel. Reddat ill'i Dominus in die illo.
"And as for offering myself to say mass before the queen's
Highness, or in any other place, I never did, as her Grace right
well knoweth. Nor no man can say to the contrary, and speak
truth, that there is anything in the Communion set out by the
most godly and innocent Prince King Edward VI. in his higli
court of parliament ; but that it is conformable to the order
which our Saviour Christ did observe and command to be
observed, and which His Apostles and the primitive Churcli
used many years. Whereas the mass in many things not only
hath no foundation of Christ's Apostles or the primitive Church,
but is manifestly contrary to the same, and containeth many
horrible abuses in it. And although many, unlearned or
malicious, doth report that Mr. Peter Martyr is unlearned, yet
if the queen's Highness will grant thereunto, I with the said
Peter Martyr and other four or five which I shall choose, by
God's grace will take upon us to defend, that not only the
Common Prayers of the Church, the ministration of the Sacra-
ments, and other rites and ceremonies, but also that all the
doctrine and religion set out by our late Sovereign Lord King
Edward VI., is more pure and according to God's Word than
any other doctrine that hath been used in England these
Cranmer.
1533-56.
318 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, thousand )'ears : so that God's Word may be the judge, and that
^^^- the reasons and proofs on both parties may be set out in writing ;
Thomas to the intent, as well that all the world may examine and judge
therein, as also that no man shall start back from his writings.
And where they boast of the faith which hath been in the
Church three thousand years, we will join with them in this
point : for that doctrine and usage is to be followed, which was*
in the Church fifteen hundred years past. And we shall prove,
that the order of the Church set out at this present in this
realm by act of parliament is the same that was used in the
Church fifteen hundred years past. And so shall they never be
able to prove theirs."' *
Cranmer had now thrown down the gauntlet, and the
government was obliged to act. On tlie evening of the
7th of September, on which day the declaration was
published, he received an order to attend the Star
Chamber.f On his appearance he was treated with great
consideration and kmdness. On the following morning
he was interrofjated about the declaration, and to afford
him an opportunity to escape, or to justify themselves in
letting tlie matter drop, it was insinuated through Bishop
Heath that the court would be satisfied, if the archbishop
would express sorrow for the circulation of a document
which, according to his ov;n admission, had been pro-
mulgated without his sanction. Cranmer acted with great
* Remains, iv. 1.
+ The following is the mini;te from tlie Council Book : — " On the
8th of September, 1553, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, appeared
before the lords, as he was the day before appointed. After long and
serious debating of his offence by the whole board, it Avas thought con-
venient that, as well for the treason committed by him against the
queen's ]\Iajesty as for the aggravating of the same his offence, by
stireading about seditious bills moving tumult to the disquietness of the
present state, he should be committed to the Tower, there to remain
and be referred to justice, or fuithcr ordered as shall stand Avith the
queen's pleasure."
AKCHBISIIOrS OF CANTERBURY. 319
digiiit}^ He would not deny that he regretted the pre- chap.
mature pubhcation of the declaration before it had been .^ ,J -
subjected to his revision. For, he added, that his intention cranmer.
had been to have enlarged it, and then to have had it 1533-56.
fixed, authenticated by his archiepiscopal seal, upon the
door of the cathedral church of St. Paul, and on the
doors of all the other London churches.*
The arclibishop's manner was concihatory though his
conduct was uncompromising, and he was permitted to
return to his manor-house at Lambeth. The council, in-
deed, was composed of men who were quite aware that
Cranmer, if pressed, might make revelations which would
inculpate others besides himself. They still wished that
he w^ould fly the country, and witii a view to expedite this
proceeding. Bishop Gardyner, now Lord Chancellor, sug-
gested that, proceeding on Cranmer's own principles, his
licence to act as archbishop should be withdrawn, and that
he should receive a sufficient maintenance to enable him to
live as a private gentleman. There was probably a time
when Cranmer would have listened gladly to such a pro-
posal, but to have consented to it now would have been
a manifest dereliction of duty. Cranmer remained at
Lambeth, determined on a passive resistance. But the
queen, who entertained towards him a feeling of personal
hostilit}^, used her authority with the council to have him
committed to the Tower. This was accordingly done on
the 14th of September.
Cranmer, though a prisoner, was still treated with
respect, and even ci\ihty. He was not strictly confined ;
but had the freedom of the Tower. By a letter addressed
by the council to the Lieutenant, that officer was " to
suffer the late Duke of Northumberland's cliildren the
liberty of walking within the garden of the Tower, and
* Heylin, ii. 101.
320 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, also to minister the like favour to the Lady Jane and Dr.
ni. ^
--^-, — - Uranmer.
Cranmtr. I^ the Tower the archbishop found liis friends Eidley
1533-56. and Bradford ; and five days after, in came a venerable
octogenarian, as hght-hearted, as hard-headed, and as
strong-minded as ever, Bishop Latimer. With the Lady
Jane they formed a little congregation, as happy as cir-
cumstances Avould permit. The prison in the Tower
became, after a time, so crowded, that it was found
impossible to give to each prisoner a separate apartment;
but although Latimer complained that he and his three
friends were thrust into one chamber, " as men not to be
accounted of," yet still some consideration was shown
them, for they were not separated. The friends availed
themselves of the opportunity to read over the New
Testament, " with great delectation and peaceful stud}',"
thus deriving immediate comfort to their own souls, by
communion with God and one another, and preparing
themselves for peace in death, or, if life were spared, for
the further maintenance of God's truth.
Up to this time Cranmer entertained hopes of pardon.
He knew not yet how bigoted Mary was in her attachment
to " the old learning," neither did he know how deeply
rankled in her mind his conduct with respect to her
mother's divorce ; he only knew that persons for more
seriously implicated in ISTorthumberland's conspiracy than
he had been, were pardoned. The Bishop of Winchester,
in making his peace with the queen on the subject of
the divorce, would naturally throw the chief blame upon
Cranmer. The distinction to be made is clear, though
the advocates of Cranmer, in their hatred of Gardyner,
accuse the latter of " shamelessness " in attacking Cranmer
on the subject. Mary could pardon a minister of her
father, who, though holding a brief against her mother,
AECIIBISHOPS OF CANTEKBURY. 321
was nevertheless prepared to yield if the pope had refused chap.
to pronounce the marriage null ; but she could never ,.^.^-l_^
forgive the man who, in her view of the case, took the cranmer.
law into his own hands, and did illegally what the law, 1533-56.
as she understood it, would not have sanctioned. Gardyner
was not a high-minded or a generous man, but I do not
think that we should judge him harshly for pointing out
the difference between his case and that of Cranmer. At
the <ame time, we may join in those censm^es which he has
justly incurred, for purchasing his pardon by receding
from the high ground he once had taken on the subject
of the royal supremacy. On this point, Cranmer main-
tained his position ; and until Mary's extreme papistical
notions were made known, he expected that his zeal in
this respect would secure for him the royal favour. It
was the subject uppermost in her father's mind, and Mary
at first appeared anxious to tread in her father's steps.
But these hopes and expectations, after the meeting of
Parliament and Convocation, were soon to be dissipated.
Parliament met on the 5th, and Convocation on the 6th of
September, 1553. It was not difficult for the government
to pack both the Parhament and the Convocation. The
feelinjT in favour of the Pieformation, thouoh latent, was
strong. But leader the Protestants had none. They had
not the means of ascertaining their strength, and conse-
quently, to all appearance the Protestant cause was weak.
And who was to rally them.^ Xorthumberland's apos-
tacy had astonished and astounded them. If so zealous
an ultra-Protestant could proclaim that he had played
the hypocrite for political and party purposes, who was
to be trusted ? Such statesmen as Cecil might have placed
themselves in the foremost ranks, but they, though they
maintained that the Church needed reform in doctrine
and in discipline, did not think it a cause for whicli they
VOL. VII. Y
322 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, were called upon to imperil their lives or even to sacri-
V— ,-l_ fice their interest at court. Even Pole was a reformer,
CranmCT. ^1^^^ thcsc men contended, that though they sought re-
1633-56, form, they had never been Protestants. The enthusiasm
which afterwards led men to court persecution, and to
offer their bodies to be burned for the sake of God's truth,
had not yet to any great extent been awakened. The
large class of quiet sober-minded persons who had ac-
cepted the changes of the late reign with thankfulness,
had been so thoroughly disgusted with the avarice, the
hypocrisy, the inefficiency of such men as the Somersets,
the Northumberlands, the Arundels, the Eussells, and the
Pagets, that they felt no inchnation to fight their battles,
even if any one were prepared to summon them to the
contest. While the zeal of Mary's friends, supported by
a reaction to a certain extent in public feeling, was un-
abated, they found scarcely any oj^ponent ; for most men,
if they did not accord with them in their o]:)inions,
thought it best to bide their time — to wait and see what
would take place. The counsellors of Mar)^ might have
been bad men ; but worse men than Somerset and North-
imiberland they could scarcely have been, thougli Somer-
set has come down to us in the character of a saint.
In the Convocation there was only a minority of six to
defend the reformation. These six were dignitaries of
the Church, Avho had right ex officio to a seat in the Con-
vocation, and who determined, at all risks, to defend the
various reformations effected in the spiods of the late
reign.
The Bishop of London, Dr. Bonner, presided with the
vulgarity and vigour which were his characteristics. He
thought it witty to observe, " As for Mr. Canterbury, he
must be placed where it is meet for him." These words
betrayed a spirit of revenge as well as of malice. He
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 323
exulted in the downfall of one avIio despised and had chap.
maltreated him. . ^ — .
The Convocation was informed that it was the pleasure cranSer.
of the queen, who w^as compared to " a heaven-sent dove," 1533-06.
that debate should take place on certain controverted
points, in order that canons might be framed for her
Majesty's satisfaction. In spite of the strenuous exertions
of the minority, the Book of Common Prayer, though
despised by ultra-Protestants for being a mere revision and
translation of the Missal and Breviary, was pronounced to
be " very abominable," and the forty-two articles " pesti-
ferous and full of heresies." The discussion on the dogma
of transubstantiation w^as fixed for the 23rd of October.
The minority requested the attendance and assistance of
Bishop Eidley, and of certain other divines whose special
attention had been directed to the investigation of this
subject. This reasonable request was refused. But,
under the leadership of Archdeacon Cheney, the six gal-
lant reformers argued the cause with great force of
reason ; they defied their opponents to produce any
authority of Scripture for the dogma of transubstan-
tiation, and they proved that it was contrary to the
teaching of the Cathohc Chmxh in primitive times.*
Dr. Weston, the prolocutor, a coarse-minded man, like
Bonner, and afterwards suvspended for immorahty, brought
the discussion abruptly to a conclusion with the remark :
" It is not the queen's pleasure that we should spend any
longer time in these debates." Then, alluding to the
zeal of the reformers for the circulation of the Scriptures,
he added : " Ye are well enough already ; ye have the
word, and we the sword."
It does not say much for the prolocutor's discretion or
* The reader inay see the whole discussion in Joyce, 501. I have
only to refer to the subject on account of its relation to Cranmer.
Y 2
324 LIVES or the
CHAP, logic ill not perceiving that by Avhat be intended for Avit
-. — r^ — ■ he stultified himself and his party.
Cranmer. ^^ was soon pcrccived that the overbearing intolerance
1533-56. of the majority of the Convocation, the insolence with
which they sought to silence their opponents, and the
unfairness of excluding from the discussion the men who,
on the side of the reformation, were best qualified to con-
duct it, made an unfavourable impression upon the public
mind. There was a large number of people who, un-
biassed by party feelings on either side, suspended their
judgment ; and before recourse was had to persecution an
attempt was first made to win them. It was arranged,
therefore, that Cranmer, Eidley, and Latimer should be
permitted to argue their cause ; but not in London, lest a
demonstration should be made in their favour. It was
determined to transport them to Oxford. A university, it
was pretended, was the fittest place for a doctrinal discus-
sion, and Cambridge was invited to send delegates, that
the conclusion might be represented as the judgment of
both the Universities.*
But much was to be done before this measure could
be adopted. The proceedings of Convocation were to be
ratified by Parliament ; and in the House of Commons a
strong opposition was raised, when it was proposed to
supersede the Book of Common Prayer and to revert to
the Use of Sarum. The debate lasted for ten days. At
length the queen's party succeeded in obtaining a ma-
jority, and it was enacted that after the twentieth day
of December, no other service should be allo^ved but
that which was in use at King Henry's death.f By
* Burnet, ii. 399.
t Mary, in conversation with Comniendone, Avho had been sent to
England secretly by the pope to conier with tlie queen, admitted that
the very name of Kome wa>j mortally hated by her peojjle, and that
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 325
another act all Kincf Edward's laws relatinjT to relisjioii chap.
w^ere repealed. The feeling against Cranmer was ap- ^^ — -
parent in tlie bill introduced to declare the legitimacy cranmer.
of Queen Mary, the preamble of which runs thus : — 1533-06.
" That truth, how much soever obscured and borne down,
will, in the end, break out ; and that therefore, they declared
that, King Henry the Eighth being lawfully married to Queen
Katharine, by consent of both their parents, and the advice of
the wisest men in the reahii, and of the best and notablest men
for learning in Christendom, did continue in that state twenty
years, in which God blessed them with her Majesty and other
issue, and a course of great happiness; but then a very few
malicious persons did endeavour to break that happy agTeement
between them, and studied to possess the king with a scruple
in his conscience about it ; and to support that did get the seals
of some universities against it, a few persons being corrupted
with money for that end. They had also by sinistrous ways
and secret threatenings procured the seals of the Universities
of this kingdom, and finally, Thomas Cranmer did most un-
godlily and against law judge the divorce, upon his own un-
advised understanding of the Scriptures, upon the testimonies
of the Universities, and some bare and most untrue conjectures;
and that was afterwards confirmed by two acts of parliament,
in which was contained the illegitimacy of her Majesty ; but
that marriage not being prohibited by the law of Grod, could
not be so broken, since what God had joined together no man
could put asunder. All which they considering, together with
the many miseries that had fiillen on the kingdom since that
time, which they did esteem plagues sent from God for it ;
therefore they declare that sentence given by Cranmer to be
until their feelings were mollified towards the Apostolical See she did
not venture to recall Cardinal Pole. (Pallavicino, ii. 32.) The court
encouraged the use of the Eoman Missal, but the i-eprints of the Sarum
books, which went on all through Mary's reign, prove that the attempt
to discard the old service-books of the Church of England met with a
passive resistance from the great body of the clergy.
1533-oG.
326 LIVES OF THR
CHAP, unlawful, and of no force from the beginning, and do also
_ ^^- . repeal the acts of parliament confirming it." *
Thomas
Cranmer. rpj-^g feeliiig out of cloors HOW wRs SO clecideclly against
the government, that the proceedings against Cranmer,
consequent upon the votes of Parliament and Convo-
cation, were hurried over ; and we have no detailed ac-
count of what occurred upon his impeachment. We only
know that on the 13th of November he was arraigned
in Guildhall for le\ying war against the queen, and for
conspiring to set up an usurper. The Lady Jane and her
husband were arraigned at the same time. All pleaded
guilty. Sentence of death was pronounced upon them
all. Cranmer, however, m^ged in extenuation of his
offence that, until the judges and law officers of the
Crown had given their opinions, he had not consented to
the exclusion of Queen ^'daiy. His attainder followed as a
matter of course. His life was now at the queen's mercy,
and he immediately transmitted a letter to tlie queen,
asking for an exercise of mercy towards him in an urgent
but still a very dignified manner. His conduct as com-
pared with that of Crumwell, or even with that of Wolsey,
is worthy so far of all admiration. Let it not be for-
gotten that he bravely refused to fly when flight was
possible ; and that though life was dear to him, there was
not in him that abject cowardice wliich we lament in a
man so really great as Wolsey, or in one who had acted
so important a part in public life as Crumwell. The
letter contains a lucid and to all appearance a candid
statement of the manner in which he was seduced into
the commission of that offence for which he was con-
demned. Of the facts stated in this letter I have already
made ample use, and we shall therefore call attention
* Pari. Hist. iii. 293.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 327
only to the concluding paragraph, which is peculiarly chap,
important as thro^ving further light on Cranmer's prin- ■ ^ -
ciples and conduct. It would seem that he thought a cranmer.
compromise might still be effected He entertained the 1533-56.
notion that althousfh Kinj^ Edward's reformation were
rejected, the queen might be persuaded to adopt some
measures to secure the independence of the Church of
England — of which she still declared herself the supreme
head — and to effect the alterations which the position of
ecclesiastical affairs rendered a necessity.* It was not
unreasonable that he should expect this ; for the queen,
in her speech to the Lord Mayor in the preceding August,
had declared, tliat " she meaned graciously not to com-
pel or strain other men's consciences, otherwise than God
should, as she trusted, put in their hearts a persuasion
of the truth, through the opening of His Word unto them ;
until such time as further order, by common consent, may
he taken therein.'' This throws light upon the following
paragraph in Cranmer's letter : —
"As concerning the state of religion, as it is used in this
realm of England, at this present, if it please your Highness to
licence me, I would gladly write my mind unto your Majesty.
I will never, Grod be willing, be author of sedition, to move
subjects from the obedience of their heads and rulers; which is
an offence most detestable. If I have uttered my mind to your
Majesty, being a Christian queen and governor of this realm (of
whom I am most assuredly persuaded, that your gracious intent
is, above all other regards, to prefer Grod's true Word, His honour,
and glory), if I have uttered, I say, my mind unto your Majesty,
then I shall think myself discharged. For it lies not in me, but
in your Grace only, to see the reformation of things that be
amiss. To private subjects it appertaineth not to reform things,
but quietly to suffer what they cannot amend ; yet nevertheless,
* A scheme of reformation was actually drawn up by Pole, and
will be found in the "Life" of that Primate of our Church.
lo33-o6.
328 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, to show your Majesty my mind in things appertaining unto
, l^ , God, methinks it my duty, knowing what I do, and considering
Thomas f}^Q place which in time past I have occupied. Yet will I not
CranmfT. • i , i-.ii
presume without your braces pleasure hist known, and your
licence obtained ; whereof, I most humbly prostrate to the
ground, do beseech your Majesty, and I shall not cease daily to
pray to Almighty God for the good preservation of your Majesty
from all enemies, bodily and ghostly, and for the increase of all
goodness, heavenly and earthly, during my life, as I do, and
will do, whatsoever become of me." *
If Cranmer expected an answer he was disappointed.
No notice whatever was taken of the letter ; but lie was
made to feel that the hour of danger had arrived. The
Lady Jane, beautiful, learned, pious, and innocent, had
laid her head upon the block, in meek reliance on her
Saviom^'s merits. The regulars among the clergy wdio
had married were suspended, on the undeniable charge
that they, in marrjdng, had violated the vows which, as
monks, they had previously taken. The secular clergy
wlio had not taken a vow of celibacy, were required to
put- away their wives in twelve months' time, and to
undergo penance for having violated the law ; they were
then to be restored to their preferments. The ini wise, un-
constitutional, and unorthodox measure by which Cran-
mer had obtained the means of depriving Gardyner and
Bonner of their bishoprics, now recoiled on the head of
the archbishop himself. As no bishop could exercise his
episcopal functions without a licence from the Crown, so
by the withdrawal of that licence from all prelates wlio
favoured the Eeformation, the bench of bishops, seriously
reduced in number, became powerless against the Crown,
whose deference to the tiara might be inferred from the
marriage which the queen had determined to contract
with Philip of Spam.
* Strype, Mem. Cranm. Appendix, 919.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 329
Wliile these events were in progress, alarming and chap.
perplexing the minds of the three illustrious men who - — ,— -
were still permitted to take sweet counsel together in a cranm'er.
prison converted by them into the house of God, an 1533-56.
order came on the 8th of March, 1554, to the Lieutenant
of the Tower, requiring him to deliver up to Sir John
Wilhams " the bodies of the late Archbishop of Canter-
bur}^* of Dr. Eidley, and of Mr. Latimer, to be by him
conveyed to Oxford."
In order to understand the conduct of Cranmer at this
juncture, the reader must realise to his mind the posi-
tion of affairs. Cranmer and his two friends were state
prisoners. The state prisoners, under a strong guard,
were removed to Oxford. Why ? Xot, let it be remem-
bered, to be tried ; but as learned doctors, among other
learned men appointed by Convocation, to enter upon a
theological discussion. Such discussions were customary,
if not absolutely necessary, until by the press these viva
voce discussions on abstruse subjects were rendered com-
paratively, if not entirely, useless.
To simplify matters, the whole subject had been re-
duced by the Convocation in London to three points.
The committee of Convocation was to maintain, and the
three bishops were to oppose, the following propositions : —
" L In the Sacrament of the altar, by virtue of the divine
word uttered by the priest, the natural body of Christ, con-
ceived of the Virgin Mary, is really present under the species
of bread and wine ; and also His natural blood.
11. After consecration, the substance of bread and wine no
* His description, as " the late archlDishop," confirms the opinion
of some lawyers that by Cranmer's attainder the archbishopric became,
ijjso fiictOj vacant. The dean and chapter had in fact taken upon
themselves the administration of the province, regarding Cranmer as
dead in law.
OOU LIVES OF THE
CHAP, longer remaineth ; neither any other substance, save only the
,_ ^^^- _ , substance of Christ, Grod and Man.
Thomiis III. Ill the mass there is a life-giving propitiatory sacrifice
, .„„ ,' for the sins of as well the dead as the livinor." *
There was a great gathering. The committee of Con-
vocation had already arrived in Oxford. Delegates from
Cambridge were expected, and soon after made their
appearance. f Certain doctors of Oxford represented that
University. And now Sir John, afterwards Lord Williams,
was leading the three bishops to Oxford, that in the
debate they might bear their part. The State was to take
care that the prisoners did not escape ; but when the dis-
cussion should take place all were to be, or rather ought
to have been, upon an equality.
The three bishops do not appear to have been made
acquainted with the object of their journey to Oxford.
They were required to start at a moment's notice, and
to take no luggage with them — nothing but what they
had on their backs. It was generally supposed that
Cranmer, who had now been attainted, was going to
execution.
As he passed through London, a multitude came forth,
to look at him. It was reported that he appeared resolute
and cheerful. The sympathy beaming through many a
countenance darkened by sorrow must have been conso-
latory to one of the kindest hearts in England. But not
a word was said. After the late insurrection every one
was careful to avoid the possibility of being accused as a
fautor of rebellion ; and Cranmer, knowing that a demon-
stration in his favom^ might have been fatal to others as
* " In missa est vivificum sacrificium pro pcccatis tam vivorum quam
mortuorum propitiabile." Wilkins, iv. 98 ; Harl. MS. 3642.
■j" The instruments appointing the delegates and accrediting them to
Oxford may be found Ixxvii. and Ixviii. in Strype.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 331
well as to himself, entreated liis friends to guard against chap.
any tumult.* > — r^ — ■
Firm, clieerful, grateful to the masses who sympa- cranme?.
pathised with him, Cranmer passed through London, ^vith 1533-56.
his two beloved companions and friends. He was con-
signed to the custody of Sir John Williams at Brentford.
They stopped at Windsor on the lOtli of April. On the
following day the gates of Bocardo, the common prison
at Oxford, closed upon the three greatest men within the
precincts of the city, now crowded mth visitors from all
quarters. The prisoners were soon after separated. Eidley
was consigned to the custody of Alderman Irish, and
was exposed to the vulgar insults of his wife. Latimer
was lodged elsewhere. The archbishop remained in
Bocardo.
The treatment these illustrious men received at this
time was disgraceful to all concerned. Of the indignities,
the insults, the hardships to which they were unneces-
sarily exposed, mention is frequently made. There may
have been some exaggeration here ; but to summon these
prelates to a discussion with picked men from the Convo-
cation and from the two Universities, and to allow them
only two days for preparation, was itself an act of injus-
tice as well as of cruelty. It was a cause on wliich the
life or death of many depended, but they were to defend
their side offhand. While to the one party all the
libraries in tlie University were open, and learned libra-
rians were ready for consultation, the archbishop and
his two episcopal friends were debarred the employment
of pen, ink, and paper, and were positively refrised the
use of their own books — those marked and annotated
volumes the very dust of which was dear to them, and
* This is gathered from a letter of a Lasco, Gardesii Miscell.
ii. 695.
332 LIVES OP THE
CHAP, every mark in which suggested an idea. While the re-
in J ^n
^ — ~ — - presentatives of the Convocation had summoned to tlieir
Cranmer. ^^d all tlic learning of their party, the tlu-ee bishops were
1533-oG. kept apart, and no conference between them was per-
mitted. Each was to answer for himself; and it was
hoped that one would be sometimes found, without
knowing it, to contradict the other. This attempt at
mental excruciation and torture we call persecution ; this
summoning of the unarmed man to fight with the beasts
of Ephesus. Sm^ely these persecutions, this disarming of
the bishops before their combat ; this endeavour to de-
press their minds by denying to their bodies the support
to which they had been accustomed ; all this was a tacit
acknowledgment of conscious weakness, an admission that
the learning of the age, old as well as new, was with the
reformers. It w^as a confession of intellectual inferiority,
when they who held the sword felt it necessaiy to avail
themselves of every advantage of which physical force
gave them the command. It was the misfortune, not the
fault, of the Convocation, that, for having a wife Avhom
he loved, the primate should be censured by one who,
hke Weston, the prolocutor, was soon after suspended for
adultery.*
On the afternoon of Saturday, the llth of April,
Archbishop Cranmer was informed that he was placed
under the custody of the Mayor of Oxford, who was
waiting to escort him to St. Mary's Church, where the
discussion was to take place. Surrounded by " rusty bill-
men " — javelin-men, as w^e now call them — the venerable
prelate proceeded to the chiuxh, confident in the justice
* The ■whole of the ensuing narrative is derived from the original
documents. There has been some little difficulty in arranging the
order of the events, and I have made allowance for the one-sidedness of
the narrator. See Craiimer's Remains, vol. iv.
ARCHBlSHOrS OF CANTERBURY. obo
of liis cause, though called upon, thus imprisoned, to chap,
defend it. When he arrived at St. Mary's, he found the ,J -
prolocutor. Dr. Weston, who was also Eector of Lincoln cranmer.
College, sittiuof in state before the hig-h altar. On either 1.5.33-06,
side, arrayed in their scarlet robes or full academical
dress, were the thirty-three commissioners — representa-
tives of the Convocation of Canterbmy and of the two
Universities. Behind, the pyx, ostentatiously displayed
on the high altar, declared a foregone conclusion. The
primate was taken by surprise. He unexpectedly found
himself, not as an equal come to discuss, but more like
a criminal summoned to receive sentence. With his ac-
customed urbanity, however, he made a low obeisance
to the doctors seated before him. Leaning upon his
walking-staff, he looked around him, expecting to see liis
fellow-prisoners. But he stood alone, amidst his oppo-
nents. He was offered a seat ; but not in the midst of
themselves, not among the doctors, who sat as if forming
a court before which lie was brought as a criminal to be
questioned. He did not expect them, after his attainder,
to receive him as their primate ; but if there was to be a
fair discussion, he ought, in that place of conference, to
be received as a doctor and their equal. He refused,
therefore, the proffered civlhty. Standing in front of tlie
doctors, supported by his staff, the archbishop hstened
patiently while the prolocutor dehvered a discourse he
had prepared on the Unity of the Church. In the course
of his address, Weston turned towards Cranmer, and ac-
cused him of having violated this unity by the intro-
duction of erroneous doctrines, and by making, as it
were, every year a new faith. He concluded l^y sayiug,
that it had pleased the queen to commission the doctors
there assembled to send for him, and on his repentance
to restore him once more to the unitv of the Church,
;34
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
This was placing the whole matter on a footing dif-
ferent from that which had been proposed. It was now
shown that the Archbishop and his friends, instead of
being disputants, were only to be respondents. Against
this mode of proceeding, as mifair to the cause of truth,
the primate, at a subsequent period, protested. In order
that " these weighty matters should be more diligently
scanned and examined," he required that he and his
companions might be permitted to oppose as well as re-
spond ; that they might be allowed to bring forth their
proofs, and to receive such answers as their opponents
might be able to advance. But, at present, he contented
himself with accepting the truisms propounded by Dr.
Weston ; and he thought fit to make some chsplay of his
learning by showing how unity was the conservative
principle among heathens as well as among Christians.
There was an implied sarcasm on the uselessness of in-
troducing such a discourse ; and, as for himself, he was
all for unity, provided it was in Christ and agreeable to
His Holy Word.
The three articles wdiich were to form the basis, not of
discussion, but, as it now appeared, of examination, were
now read to the archbishop, and a copy of them placed
in his hands. He perused them carefully. Then, repeat-
ing the first article, " In Sacramento altaris virtute verbi
Domini a sacerdote prolati, pra^sens est realiter sub spe-
ciebus panis ct vini naturale corpus Christi conceptum de
Virgine Maria. Item naturalis ejusdera sanguis," he asked
what was meant by the terms " verum et naturale" — true
and natural? " Do you mean," he asked, " corpus orga-
nicum — a sensible body ? " The question seems to have
perplexed the doctors ; some said one thing and some
another ; but they all at last concurred in the answer,
"Idem quod natum est ex Virgine," that "svhich was born
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUEY. 335
of the Virgin. This tlie Archbishop of Canterbury at chap.
once denied ; and passing on to the other two articles - — r-^ — -
which have been given above, he said that they were Cranmer.
false and contrary to God's Word, and he concluded by 1533-06.
saying. " If by unity you mean that I should join in
approving these articles, I must wholly decline to follow
that advice."
The prolocutor directed that he should write his mind
on these articles, and be prepared to maintain his opinion
on the following Monday ; " Meanwhile," he added. " you
will be supplied with any books you may require."
It is evident that the persons in authority had become
aware that the injustice of their conduct so far had ex-
cited a feeling in favour of the reformers. Great decorum
had been observed throughout the proceedings, if we
overlook the unfairness of placing the archbishop, not
among the disputants, but as a criminal called upon to
answer any questions, Avithin the prescribed limits, which
might be put to him.
The dignity, the meekness, the self-command displayed
by the archbishop had attracted the notice and excited
the kindlv feelinirs of the multitude who had " throno-ed "
to see him. For twenty years Thomas Cranmer had
been the counsellor of kings, the first peer of the realm,
the friend — the only real friend — of a monarch whose
vices were forgotten, and to whom all parties looked
back with admiration, as to a sovereign who only could
control a society so disorganised as England had now
become. Of the fallen archbishop, no unkind word or
action, when he was in the plenitude of his power, could
be mentioned. He now came forth from St. Marys
Church, unsupported, without a friend, the prisoner of
the mayor, surrounded by " rusty billmen," a venerable
old man. Many were moved to tears as they thought of
336 LIVKS OF THE
CHAP, the past ; and, contemplating the resigned and even
-— ,-^ — ' cheerful expression of his countenance, witnessed the self-
Cranmer. posscssiou lic had displayed under circumstances pecu-
1533-56. liarly provocative of indignation and anger. More than
this, an eye-witness bears testimony that tears were seen
to roll down the checks of not a few, who to his opinions
and principles were most opposed.
Cranmer having now the power of consulting books,
laboured dihgently during the Saturday night and the
Sunday. The prolocutor received the written comment
upon the articles, from the archbishop, on the Sunday
evening, Avhen he was proceeding to a grand entertain-
ment given to the dignitaries of the University at Lincoln
Collen;e.
It is written in terse and elegant Latin, and asserts con-
cisely the real state of the case and of the argument.*
The sreat work which he had done was to brinsr back
the Eucharist from the mediaeval notion of a mass to the
primitive notion of the Communion ; or as the usual mode
of expressing it at that time was, the reformers had
changed the mass into a Communion. This was the real
point. If, as Ave have seen before, there was a pro-
pitiatory sacrifice in the Eucharist, — the fundamental idea
of the mass — then the corporeal presence of the victim
offered was necessary. Hence, to simplify the debate, the
stress was laid upoji the dogma of transubstantiation. If,
as Cranmer saj^s in this document, there was only a
[xvr,;xrjrruyov — a memorial of the propitiatory sacrifice once
and once for all made upon the cross — then, although a
* It may be found among the Collection of Kecords printed by
Collier, Ixxi., from a ]\1S. in his own possession, transcribed probably
from the official report in the British JMuseiim. There is an English
translation by Grindal in Harl. MSS. 422, f. 44, which is printed in
most of the popular histories.
ARCHClSJIOrS OF CAXTERBL'RV. 00<
real presence of our Lord to the communicant was neces- chap.
sary and asserted, yet tiansubstantif.tion was an unneces- - — ^ — -
sary demand upon faith, and was to be rejected. Cranmer.
It is necessary to remember, tliat the real question was 1533-56.
between the Mass and the Communion ; so that the
debate between the papists and the reformers was not, as
is sometimes supposed, a mere piece of logomachy.* "\Ye
do not find in Cranmer, so far as I can perceive, any
approach to the rationalism to which puritanism has un-
intentionally given rise, when it rejects transubstantiation
because of its apparent absurdity. The great question
with our reformers was whether the sacrifice of the Cross
was all sufficient, and not to be repeated ; and their appeal
was not to the opinion of men, whether it were reasonable
or not, but to the Bible, interpreted by primitive practice.
At eight o'clock, on Monday the 16th of April, the
mayor and his javelin-men appeared again at Bocardo,
and the most reverend prisoner was marched to the
Divinity School. Here he found the prolocutor and the
other commissioners apparelled in their scarlet gowns,
having come in procession, with the usual formalities,
from Exeter College, where they had met the Vice-Chan-
cellor of Oxford. The prolocutor was seated on the
chair of the Professor of Divinity, a kind of pulpit,f
between two other pidpits, one of which was, in the
University exercises for the Doctor's degree, occupied by
the resjjoudent, and was now assigned to Cranmer, the
mayor and aldermen of the city keeping guard. Dr.
* The "whole subject is conciselv, and with a thorough acquaintance
with the whole subject, stated in " The Eucharistic Doctrine of the
Holy Scripture and the Primitive Litui-gies," by the Rev. William
Milton, Curate of Newbury, formerly Curate of Leeds.
t Wood calls it " that lofty professor's chair, not long since de-
molished."
VOL. Vll. Z
338 LivKs OF Tin-:
CHAP. Weston opened tlie proceedings in liis usual blinidering
. ^^^' - manner. " Brethren," lie said, in Latin, " \\e are assem-
S'mer. ^led licre to confound the detestable heresy of Christ's
1533-56. bod}^ in the Sacrament." An exordium so ludicrously
equivocal ^vas received with an unusual burst of laughter.
When the prolocutor proceeded in his address, he still
went on unconsciously blundering ; for the drift of his
arginnent was to show that it was not lawful, by God's
Word, to controvert any of tlie three articles : such per-
sons doubted the words of Christ, and might well be
thouglit to doubt botli the trutli and ])ower of God.
It is evident that the thought in Weston's mind was,
that he was to give sentence against Cranmer ; he forgot
that tlie form of proceeding adopted was not tliat of a
trial but of a discussion. Cranmer perceived and availed
himself of the prolocutor's mistake. Having requested
permission to make a few observations on the o]:)ening
address, he said : "We are assembled here for tlie purpose
of discussino; these doubtful controversies, and to lay them
open before the world, being subjects on which Ave think it
lawful to dispute." He then Avent on to remark that if
the end Avere to be taken for granted, or if there Avere a
foreo-one conclusion, there could be no ground for dispute.
" If," he concluded, " the questions be not called into con-
troversy, surely my ansAver is then looked for in vain."
Did Cranmer expect to convince the gainsayers ? or
did he say this sarcastically P He determined, at all
events, to go on Avith the discussion, for the sake of those
Avho Avere outside.
When the reader remembers that Cranmer Avas stand-
ing alone, confronted to the elite of the men of the old
learning from both of the Universities, he must marvel at
the great ability displayed on this occasion by Cranmer,
and the extreme readiness of repl}^ Avhich shows that the
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 339
lenrniiig displaj'ed in liis written works Avas not "got up" chap.
for the occasion. When I mention that tlie report of -^ ,-' -
this discussion, called, fi'oni tlie name of the chief of the cranmer.
disputants opposed to Cranmer, "The Disputation with 1533-06.
Chidse}^," occupies more than sixty pages, I shall be ex-
cused from transcribinjT what will interest no modern
readers except those who really wish to convince them-
selves of the learning and ability of the celebrated arch-
bislrop, who was never so gi'eat as when he was thus
baited by many assailants. A proof of the impression
made upon the auditors by the calmness and superior
arguments of the archbishop may be found in the irrita-
tion which he caused in the ranks of his op]3onents.
Weston was wholly unable, even if he desired, to preserve
order. He permitted Cranmer to be subjected to con-
tinual and rude interruptions ; he did not repress the
hissings, and hootings, and peals of laughter, and clapping
of hands, to whicdi the packed assembly resorted in the
hope of silencing or of intimidating the undaunted, un-
abashed defender of the Eeformation ; and he so far for-
got himself as on one occasion to call the archbishop an
unlearned, unskilful, and ignorant man. Amidst the
wranghng and the clamour, Cranmer stood facing the
storm, calm, collected, unmoved. He asked for more
time to consider the questions at issue, and to prepare
himself for meetin"; his adversaries by a reference to the
various works of which mention had been made in the
course of the discussion. He pointed out the unfairness
of requiring of him and his friends that they should act
only as respondents ; and he desired permission to press
upon his adversaries those arguments which he defied
them to answer, while he affirmed that he could produce
citations from the fathers wdiich they would be unable to
explain away.
z 2
340 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. \i two o'clock the storm was at its height ; and tlie
~ — — ' meeting: was dispersed by tlie prolocutor, shoutiui:^ "Vicit
Thomas ° ^ *; ^ iiT/.nii
Cranmer. veritas ! " The voices of the party really deieated re-echoed
1533-56. ^1^^ jjhout through the streets of Oxford. The solitary
victor retmiied to his prison.*
A temporary reaction took place, and the abettors of
Weston were ashamed of their conduct. John Harpsiield,
the newly appointed Archdeacon of London, was to per-
form his exercises for his Doctor's degree on the 19th of
A]:)ril ; and, as the custom then was, the exercises consisted
of a disputation. Cranmer having complained of the
unfairness of those proceedings which made him and his
friends, in every case, the defendants, was now offered
the opportunity of appearing as the opposing party.
There were several reasons for adopting this course.
The disputation was not considered a real one ; the
object was to bring out the ability of the person at-
tacked, the assailant producing arguments against him,
without pledging himself to hold them in reality. The
moderator might close the discussion Avheuever he thought
lit, and was expected, whether right or w-rong, to give
judgment in favour of the disputant who professed to main-
tain the cause of orthodoxy. We cannot but suspect also,
that a feeling existed m the mind of Weston and the
other commissioners that there was truth in the report
industriously circulated, that Cranmer was not a man of
learning ; and that, consequently, Avhen opposed to a man
of such unquestionable erudition as Harpsiield, he would
be disgraced in the eyes of all scholastic pedants.
To follow the disputants through their logical subtleties
would be to the reader neither amusing nor instructive,
* Of the shameful manner in -which the discussion Avas conducted Ave
liave an account under tlie liaud of Cranmer himself, in a letter Avhicli
Avill be jriven to the reader.
ARCPIBISnOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 341
but the student in mental archaeology will peruse the dis- ch.-vp.
cussion with interest. A report of it is preserved in the ■—-. — '
. Thomas
" Eemains " of Cranmer,* and whoever consults it will be Cranmer.
persuaded that Cranraer's ability was equal to his learning, 1533-06.
and that both were considerable. When he concluded,
the moderator addressed him, saying, " Your wonderful
gentle behaviour and modesty, good Dr. Cranmer, is
worthy much commendation ; and that I may not deprive
you of your right and just deserving, I give you most
hearty thanks in mine own name, and in the name of all
my brethren. "f
Upon this, all the doctors present " quietly took off their
caps." These were the last worldly honours paid to Thomas
Cranmer. There is something gratifying in the tribute of
respect thus forced from his adversaries by one, whose many
faults have been freely admitted, but of whom it may be
said that he fully sustained tlie character of a gentleman,
and thus contrasted favourably ^\ith his opponents.
From his prison the archbishop was soon after sum-
moned again. On the very next day he had to* appear
before the commissioners at St. Mary's Church. There
he had the happiness of seeing, though only in public,
and without any opportunity of conference, his two
friends Bishop Eidley and Bishop Latimer. The conduct
of Weston the prolocutor was still urbane. He was to
pronounce the three bishops guilty of heresy, if they
would not subscribe to tliree articles which the Con-
vocation had appointed as the test of their orthodoxy.
But he was anxious to save them from the penalty of the
law by persuading them to yield. Not being an earnest
man himself, he could not understand earnestness in
others. Thej^ were not now to discuss ; the time for dis-
cussion had passed ; the three bishops had simply to say
* Remains, iv. G7. f Ibid. iv. 7G.
342 LIVES OF THE
CTiAP. 3'es or no. Weston had them one by one called before
> , ■ — - him, and he entreated them, even as Cranmer had en-
Cranmcr. treated Fryth and Lambert, to yield to the decision of
1533-56. Convocation. They one and all refused to subscribe tlie
articles which had just been adopted by the committee
of Convocation, and the prolocutor had only therefore
to resume his seat and let matters take their course. The
doctors, iu full array, sat in a semicircle on either side
of the chair occupied by Dr. Weston, whose seat w^as on
the step in front of the altar. The prisoners w^ere placed
before them. It was a novel sight, never seen before or
after in the Church of England, or in any branch of the
Catholic Church : three bishops were standing to hear
sentence pronounced upon them by a commission con-
sisting exclusively of presbyters.
There stood the octogenarian Latimer, bending beneath
the weight of years and infirmities, and leaning heavily
upon his staff, with two or three caps and a handlver-
chief on his head ; his spectacles, without a case, hanging
by a stt'ing on his breast. There stood Eidley, tlie clear-
headed, resolute, but pious polemic ; knowing that there
was no one there present wlio, with weapons not carnal,
could venture to enter into the lists with him without
suffering a defeat. There too stood Cranmer, the scholar,
the lawyer, the statesman, the accomplished gentleman,
the courtier, the affectionate husband and father. Always
blundering. Dr. Weston, in addressing them, had ven-
tured to say that the prisoners had been defeated in fiiir
and open disputation. This roused the archbishop, and,
referring to what had occurred on the Monday, he replied,
"Whereas Doctor Weston said, he, Cranmer, hath answered
and opposed, and could neither maintain his own errors,
nor impugn the verity; all that he said was false : for he
was not suffered to oppose as he would, nor could answer
as lie was required, unless lie would have brawled with
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTEEBURY. o4.0
them, so tliick their reasous came one after another : ever chap.
III.
four or live did interrupt him, that he could not speak."* — .— -
~ 1 11 Thomas
The officer of the court prepared to read the sentence, cranmer.
but he had scarcely commenced, when the prolocutor 1533-56.
compassionately stopped him. ISTow, for the last time, he
■would put to the prisoners collectively the question he
had urged upon them in private, whether they would turn
or no. " Eead on," they said, one and all ; " in the name
of God, read on." We seem to hear the voice of Eidley
uttering the words which the other two made their own by
repeating them. When the officer of court ceased, there
was a lorief pause. The three prelates said dehberately , "We
are not minded to turn." Their doom was pronounced.
There was another solemn pause; the silence was broken
by the archbishop : " From this your judgment I appeal
to the judgment of God Almighty, trusting to be present
in heaven with Him, for whose presence in the altar I
am condemned."
Bishop Eidley said : " Although I be not of your com-
pany, yet doubt I not but my name is written in another
place, whither this sentence will send us sooner than we
should by the coiurse of nature have come."
" I thank God most heartil}'," exclaimed Bishop Lati-
mer, " that He hath prolonged my life to this end, that I
may in this case glorify God by that kind of death."
Dr. Weston was heard to mutter, " If you go to heaven
in this faith, then Avill I never come thither, as I am thus
persuaded."
Let us hope that he was misunderstood or misrepre-
sented ; for considering the character of the man, the
sentiment he uttered is as sad as it was uncharitable.
The court broke up. Bishop Eidley was taken to the
house of Alder^nan Lish, Bishop Latimer to the baihff's
house, and Archbishop Cranmer to Bocardo. From the
* Remains, iv. 77.
o44 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, -windows of his prison he witnessed the solemn procession
III .
-__-,--: — which was made to celebrate the act which had doomed
Cranmer. ^^ii^^ ^^^^ l^is two fricnds to the stalvC. The sacrament
1533-dC. was carried b}" Dr. Weston, four doctors of divinity hold-
ing the canopy over it.
Cranmer immediately wrote the following letter to the
council, which may be regarded as winding up tliis scene of
the tragedy, not yet to be brought to its final conclusion,
*' In most humble wise sueth unto your Right Honourable
Lordships Thomas Cranmer, late Archbishop of Canterbury;
beseeching the same to be a means for me unto the queen's
Highness for her mercy and pardon. Some of you know by
what means I was brought and trained unto the will of our late
Sovereign Lord King Edward VL, and what I spake against the
same ; wherein I refer me to the reports of ^om- honours.
" Furthermore, this is to signify imto your Lordships, that
upon Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday lavSt past, were open dis-
putations here in Oxford against me, Master Ridle}', and Master
Latimer, in three matters concerning the Sacrament. First, of
the real presence. Secondly, of transubstantiatiou. And thirdly,
of the sacrifice of the mass. How the otlier two were used I
cannot tell; for we were separated, so that none of us knew
what the other said, nor how they were ordered. But as con-
cerning myself, I can report that I never knew nor heard of a
more confused disputation in all my life. For albeit there was
one appointed to dispute against me, yet every man spake his
mind, and brought forth what him liked without order. And
such haste was made, that no answer could be suffered to be
given fully to any argument before another brought a new
argument. And in such weighty and large matters there was
no remedy, but the disputations must needs be ended in one
day, which can scantly well be ended in three months. And
when we had answered them, then they would not appoint us
one day to bring forth our proofs, that they might answer us
again, being required of me thereunto : whereas I myself have
more to say than can be well discussed in twenty days. The
means to resolve the truth had been, to have sutfered us to
AKCHBISnOPS OF CAXTERBURV. 345
answer fully to all that they could say, and then they again to CHAP.
answer to all that we could say. But why they would not ^ ^^^j ,
answer us, what other cause can there be but that either they Thomas
feared the matter, that they were not able to answer us ; or else
(as by their haste might well appear) they came, not to speak
the truth, but to condemn us in post haste, before the truth
might be thoroughly tried and heard ? for in all haste we were
all three condemned of heresy upon Friday. Thus much I
thought good to sig-nify unto your Lordships, that you may know
the indifferent handling of matters, leaving the judgment
thereof unto your wisdoms. And I beseech your Lordships to
remember me, a poor prisoner, unto the queen's Majesty : and I
shall pray, as I do daily, unto God for the long preservation of
your good Lordships in all godliness and felicity. — April 23,
1554." *
The friendliness shown by Weston, notwithstanding
occasional ontbnrsts of insolent passion, indnced Cranmer
to entrust the letter to him to be dehvered to the council.
Weston took the liberty of opening the letter, when on
his journey, and finding not the comphments whicli he
expected to be paid to himself, but a statement of the
case which exposed his incapacity, indecision, and want
of temper, he returned it to Cranmer, wdio found other
means of transmitting it.f
To this letter no answer was returned. Tlie queen
and council had acted j^recipitately, and were now in a
difficulty. During the Avhole of the Tudor period nothing
surprises us more, than tlie daring violation of the spirit
of the law, united with a scrupulous, even a pedantic ob-
servance of its letter. A reverence for law is indeed a
characteristic of our race. What was to be done under
* Remains, i. 3G5.
f We may infer from this that Weston, whose insolence was remark-
able at the commencement of the proceedings, bad received a hint from
head-quarters to adopt a more conciliatory tone. Hence the change
which certainly took place in his conduct.
o4G LIVES OF THE
CHAP. existii]g circumstances ? This was tlie question which the
■^ — - — ' (•ouncil could not answer, and the judges, v/hen consulted,
Ci-iiumer. fouud It dilHcult to dccide.* The papal authority, and with
io33-o6. it the canon law, had been rejected in England. Queen
Mary, being accounted supreme head of the ChiuTh of
England, could have lawfully ordered the execution of the
prisoners. But to exercise her powers as supreme head
was against her religious principles ; although, in opposi-
tion to those principles, she had, with an inconsistency
not unusual, to secure some immediate and important
end, not unfrequently acted. She would not, however,
go so far as to order the execution of three prelates of her
Church ; and how far a sentence pronounced by priests
upon their bishops could be, even in an extreme case,
defensible, was a question which could not fail to occur
to a conscience hardened on the one side, but scrupulously
sensitive on the other. By the common law, it is true,
a heretic might be executed ; but the common law could
not act until the accused had been Gon\'icted in the eccle-
siastical court. Cranmer's life, as that of one who had
been attainted of treason, was indeed made forfeit to the
law ; but if, on that ground, he were to be sent to the
block, who in the council would be safe ?
Thus all thino-s were workino; in the course which the
queen desired. The affairs of the country, she and her
immediate friends remarked, could not be properly con-
ducted until the authority of the pope was restored, and
the canon law established.
It was finally determined to treat the proceedings at
Oxford as a nullity. Eighteen months were therefore to
elapse before Bishop Eidley and Bishop Latimer were con-
signed to the flames. There was an interval of five months
between their execution and that of Archbishop Cranmer.
* Council Book. Avchteol. xviii.
ARCIIBISIIOrS OF CANTERBUKY. ^47
That prisoners should be subjected to h^irdships was a chap.
thing, in tliose days, only to be expected ; and that the ■ r-'— -
in 1-1 • n Thomas
three venerable prelates were subjected occasionally to Ci-aumer.
insults from the low and vulgar-minded, is wliat, from 1-533-56.
our own experience of the excesses to which rehgious par-
tisanship will hurry even good men, we should greatly
fear. But from Bishop Eidley's complaint that the " man-
ner of their treatment did change as sour ale doth in
summer," I should infer that tliey Vv'ere not systema-
tically ill-treated. Occasionally a fanatic Avas in office,
or a report came that tliey were planning their escape,
and they were subjected for a season to annoyance and
restraint ; but the government had certainly given orders
to the Mayor of Oxford to provide them with food and
raiment. They were not, at all times, prohibited from
visiting each other ; they w^ere, in fact, associated. We
happen to have their bill of fare for the 1st of October,
1554 :—
Item, ling .... viij rZ.
Fresh salmon . . . xd.
"SViue iij(/.
Cheese and pears . . ijd.
It is added that they constantly ate suppers as well as
dinners, that their meals usually amounted to three or
four shillings, never exceeding four ; that, at both meals,
clieese and pears were the last dish ; and that they had
wine, of wliich the price was always threepence, and no
more.*
They were permitted to receive and send letters, and
therefore wlien it is said that they were prohibited the
use of pen, ink, and paper, the reference . must be to
some order given on a special occasion ; and not to any
* Todd, ii. 405.
Bread and ale . .
. ^]d.
Item, oysters . .
. id.
Item, bread . .
. id.
Item, ecrcrs . . .
. ^id.
348 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, general reQ;ulation extenclinci; over tlie wliole time of llieir
III .
- — ^\ — - confinement. Tliey also received pecuniary assistance
CranmeJ. from thcir frientls. By the letters they received, ex-
1533-56. pressive of tlie most touching piety and sympathy from
fellow-sufferers or from men expecting to suffer, they
must have been comforted and supported. The great
support and consolation to their souls, however, came
from above, for, of their deep and sincere piety no man
has dared to doubt. I mention the whole state of the
case, because, where there is so much cause for pity,
and even indignation, tliere is no object that I can per-
ceive in trying to make things appear worse than they
were : bad enough in due time they became.
The burning had not actually commenced in 1554; but
in all parts of the country men were imprisoned — holy,
pious, learned men, prepared to endure hardship and to
suffer death itself in their Great Master's cause. They
had means of communication ; and describing themselves
as prisoners of the Gospel, they drew up an address to
the queen and king,* and to the high court of parliament,
in Avhich they eloquently avow their principles in lan-
guage wdiich attests their orthodoxy as well as their
courage. They conclude with saying : —
" This, therefore, our humble suit is now to your honourable
estates, to desire the same, for all the mercies' sake of our dear
and only Savior, Jesus Christ, and for the duty you owe to
your native country, and to your own souls, earnestly to
* The reader will remember that Mary was married to Philip on
the 25th of July, 1554. The act of parhament, 1 Mar. Stat. 2, c. ii.,
Foedera, vol. xv. p. 394, provided that on the celebration of their
nuptials, Philip should, during their marriage, " have and enjoy, jointly
together with the queen his wife, the style, honour, and kingly name
of the realm and dominions unto the said queen appertaining, and shall
aid her Highness, being his wife, in the happy administration of her
realms and dominions."
ARCIlBlSllOrs OF CANTEKBIRV. o49
consider fi-oni what light to what darknes tliis realm is now CHAP,
brouorht, and that in the weio^htiest, chief and principal matter ^ — -
of salvation of al our souls and bodies everlasting, and for (;;j..|°^e^.
ever more. And even so we desire you at this your assembly, to 1533-56.
seek some effectual reformation for the afore written most
horrible deformation in this Church of England. And touching
yourselves we desire you in like manner, that we may be called
before your Honors ; and if we be not able both to prove and
approve by the Catholic and Canonical rules of Christ's true
religion, the Church Homilies and Service set forth in the most
innocent K. Edward's days; and also to disallow and reprove
by the same authorities, the Service now set forth, since his
departing; then we offer our bodies, either to be immediately
burned, or else to suffer whatsoever other paini'ul and shameful
death that it shall please the King and Queen's Majesties to
appoint. And we think this trial and probation may be now
bejit, either in the plain English tongue by writing, or other-
wise by disputation in the same tongue. Our Lord for His gi-eat
mercy sake, grant unto you all the continual assistance of His
good and Hoi}' Spirit. Amen."*
lu drawing up this address, the " prisoners " at Oxfoixl
must have concurred ; whether they assisted in drawing
it up, or who were tlie authors, is not known.
All petitions and remonstrances, however, were in vain.
Tlie reforming party was still without a leader ; and to
that circumstance we may attribute, to a certain extent,
the number of martyrdoms. If the reforming party
could have been rallied, the government, alarmed at its
strength, ^vould have adopted milder measures. But now
they thought that they were only a few fanatics here and
there, by making an example of whom, the many wdio
knew not hoAv to decide — the quiet, humble, pious, un-
controversial Christians who always form the bulk and
the strength of the Church — would have submitted to
* Strype, Appendix, Ixxxiv.
»0
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
111.
Thomas
Cranraer.
1533-i5G.
ail}' regulations made by the government, whether they
entii'ely ap])roved of tliem or not.
In the existing condition of the country, it was easy, as
■\ve have l)efore remarked, to pack both tlie pailiament
and tlie Convocation. In former reis^ns we have seen that
parhament was only strong Avhen the executive was weak.
A strong government appointed the returning officers,
and these oflicials, supported by the govei-nment, intimi-
dated opposition candidates, and sometimes falsified the
returns. We are not, therefore, surprised to hear that
tlie Convocation petitioned the queen and king, that
Cranmer's treatise on the Sacrament, the late service-
books, and other books, pronounced by them to be
heretical, might be burnt ; or that in parliament there was
only an opposition of one in tlic House of Commons, to
tli<3 vote by which the papal authority was re-established
in the Churcli and realm of England. The lords and
others of her Majesty's privy council — many of them
great reformers in the last reign, some of them the ready
instruments of Mary in the work of persecution — were
]'econciled to the abolition of the royal supremacy, when
a pledge was given that the papal supremacy should not
be exercised to rob them of the abbey-lands of which they
had robbed the monks.
It Avas at the close of 1554 that Cardinal Pole arrived
in England, a legate, at that time, a latere; and on the
2ord of Xovember he took possession of the archbishop's
residence at Lambeth — a sufficient indication that it Avas
never more to be occupied by Cranmer.
The imprisoned prelates at Oxford were aware that
things were now coming to a crisis, so far as they them-
selves were concerned. Tliey were not mistaken ; for a
commission was soon issued by the legate to examine, with
a vicAV of al3solving or degrading, and after degradation.
ARCIIBISIlOrS OF CAMEKCUKY. ool
if de'T'radation were decided upon, of deliverincj; over to the chap.
• III
secular arm, Bishop Eidley and Bishop Latimer. "\\ ith re- . _1_^
spect to Thomas Cranmer, an archbishop, the commission cranmer.
issued from the pope himself. 1503-66.
No cheering prospect was before the prisoners. In the
year 1555, the persecutions commenced in earnest. Their
liearts, though saddened, must have been strengthened
and refreshed when they heard of the power of endur-
ance exhibited by many who had been with them the
standard-bearers of the Eeformation.
For maintaining the doctrine of a Communion instead
of the mass, and in fact for the Prayer Book, the proto-
inartyr Eogers, a prebendary of St. Paul's, and one of tlie
most eloquent preacliers of the day, was consigned to the
liames on the 4tli of February, 1555. All differences
between the pious, though fanatical, Bishop Hooper and
Archbishop Cranmer were foi-gotten when, for having
a wife and for upholding the Communion against tlie mass,
by denying tlie dogma of the corporeal presence, Hooper
suffered on the 9t.h of the said month. Piowland Taylor,
Rector of Iladley, and Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's,
were friends whom Cranmer, Eidley, and Latimer loved,
lamented, and admired. Xo wild fanatics were these.
Men were afterwards maddened by fanaticism, and rushed
upon death with a madness of which vre have seen in-
stances in less worthy causes ; but these were men who
felt that to belie their convictions wuuld be to sin against
their own souls, and tliat to God and His truth they owed
a debt. Eidley and Latimer experienced something of
the enthusiasm which induces a noble nature to share in
the sufferings, as well as to sympathise in the soitoavs, of
those we love. If there were one among the prisoners at
Oxford who felt that life, even at three score years and five,
was dear to him, let us remember that Cranmer, knowino:
OOJ LIVKS OF THE
CHAP, how severe the trial was to wliicli the mnrtyrs would be
III . • .
^ — r^ — ' exposed, had all along advised his friends to fly, unless,
Cranmer. from tlic promliient part they had taken in the Eeforma-
1533-56. tion, their flight might appear as a denying of their Lord.
Xobly did Cranmer, feehng thus, determine, when the
power of Hight was allowed him, to stand at his post and
to dare the worst. If he miscalculated his strength and
courage, let him not be severely censured by those who
are untempted and untried.
Although Cranmer conducted himself bravely at his
trial, yet the reader who will attend to the details will be
inclined to think that his opponents surmised his weakness
before it was known even to himself, and that they hoped
that one who had so frequently changed his opinions was
still open to conviction.
The papal authority having been restored in England,
immediate measures were adopted to secure his condem-
nation in proper form. On Saturday, the 7th of Septem-
ber, 1555,* he received a citation to appear at Eome
before the expu'ation of eighty days, to make answer to
such matters as should be objected to him by the king
and queen. He was informed that at the suit of the king
and queen, the pope had issued a commission to Cardinal
de Puteo. He was aware that all tliis was matter of
form, and tluit liis real judge would be the prelate whom
the cardinal appointed as his subdelegate, and who as
such was commissioned by the pope — the Eishop of
Gloucester, Dr. Brookes.
In the commission from the pope it was (jrdered tliat
the archbishop should have charity and justice shown to
him, and that the laws should be interpreted, in the most
* There has been some misunderstanding as to the date of citation,
but Cranmer himseh' states that lae received it on the 7th of September.
See his letter to the queen, licmaius, i. 369.
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 60O
ample manner, in his favour.* It was decreed that the chap.
.in
archbishop should appear before the Bishop of Glou- ■ — ^^—
cester, as subdelegate of Cardinal de Puteo or high com- Cranmer.
missioner of the pope, and that Dr. Martin and Dr. Story 1533-56,
should, in the name of the king and queen, demand his
examination. f
On the 12th of September, 1555, the archbishop was
again led as a prisoner, in custody of the city guard, to
St. Mary's church. There, at the east end, he saw the
altar decorated and the Sacrament exposed. Beneath and
in front of it, on a throne raised ten feet from the ground,
sat, 171 pontificalibus, the Lord Bishop of Gloucester, the
commissioner — all indicating a foresfone conclusion. On
seats, lower than the throne of the papal commissioner,
sat the proctors of the King and Queen of England. On
his right sat Dr. Martin, a man of the world, keen, as a
lawyer, to win the cause for which he had been retained
and to secure the conviction of the prisoner. He was,
so far as the rehgious question was concerned, a perfect
* Strype, i. 533.
•j" Of this examination we have three contemporary accounts. There
is the official report sent by the Bishop of Gloucester to the Cardinal
de Puteo, which is called the " Processus contra Cranmerum," and may
be seen in MS. in the Lambeth Library, No. 1 L36. It has been printed
in the Addenda to the Oxford edition of Strype. There are two reports
presei-ved by Foxe. The longest of these, written by an opponent of
the archbishop, is, though the longest, the least to be depended upon,
as some of the statements are inconsistent with historical facts. It is
written, however, in a fair and kind spirit. I have minutely examined
them all, and compared them with the archbishop's letter to the queen
(letter ccxix. in the " Remains "), which Dr. Jenkyns remarks may be con-
sidered in the light of a corrected report of his speech. I have presented
the reader with a harmony of the reports, and though there may be
room for some discussion on the exact sequence of some of the events,
I think that I state to the reader a report quite as accurate as that
Avhich is given us of the proceedings in a court of justice in the
present day.
VOL. TIL A A
354 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Gallio ; but that did not prevent him, unprincipled as he
— ' — ' was, from utterin^]^ tlie most sarcastic remarks, and puttiim*
Thomas ' i ■ i i i i ^ , ^
Cranmer. the qucstious which hc thought to be the most annoying to
1533-56. ^|-jg accused. Dr. Martin was, at this time, retained to
argue in favour of the papal, as opposed to the royal,
supremacy. We are justified in speaking of him as a
Gallio ; for when it was his interest, in Queen Elizabeth's
reign, to uphold the royal, in opposition to the papal, su-
premacy, Dr. Martin did not hesitate to take that oath, for
takiiio- which he would now consign Cranmer to the stake.
On the left of the subdelegate sat Dr. Story, the
friend of Bonner, He was a man whose piety had de-
generated into fanaticism. He regarded as an enemy to
God everyone whose theological opinions differed from
his own, and he thought he was doing God service when
he caused an enemy of God to die the death of a heretic.
Stern as his features were, they showed that he was a man
who rejoiced in tlie work which it was his duty as a lawyer
to perform.
Below these, three officers of state, the authorities of
the University, and the other distinguished personages, in-
cluding the pope's collector, were arranged in a semi-
circle, all arrayed in their scarlet gowns or robes of
office. Beneath them, on the floor, crowded the graduates
of the university and persons of low degree described as
the " rabblement."
In contrast to all this splendour stood the dark figure of
the Archbishop of Canterbury, for so was Cranmer still
regarded. * He stood at the entrance of the choir, in
* When tlie avclibishop was attainted, lie could no longer exercise
authority in England, and tlic Dean and Chapter of Canterbury assumed
the administration of the province as if he were defunct. But in the
eye of the Church he did not cease to be Archbishop of Canterbury
until he was formally degraded.
ARCIIBISlIOrS OF CANTERBURY. 000
his gown and cassock, witli his doctor's hood on his chap.
shoulders, and his square cap on his head. The solemn ^ — .
silence was broken by tlie voice of the apparitor : cranmer.
"Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbur}^, appear here and 1533-56.
make answer to that which shall be laid to thy charge ;
that is to say, for blasphemy, incontinency, and heresy,
and make answer to the Bishop of Gloucester, representing
tlie pope's person."
The archbishop, attended by the officers of the court,
was paraded up the choir until, standing before the throne,
he confronted the Bishop of Gloucester. As he drew near,
he doffed his cap and made a genuflexion first to Dr.
Martin and then to Dr. Story. Then raising himself, with
his usual dignity, and looking motionless at the repre-
sentative of the pope, he deliberately and in a marked
manner replaced his cap upon his head.
The action was so marked, that the Bishop of Gloucester
observed, that considering the authority he represented,
it might beseem the archbishop right well to make his
duty to him. But the cap remained on the archbishop's
head, his knee was unbent : not in discourtesy to Dr.
Brookes, but because the ]3ishop of Gloucester repre-
sented on this occasion an authority which the archbishop
refused to recognise. He observed that " he had once
taken a solemn oath never to consent to the admitting of
the Bishop of Piome's authority into this realm of England
again ; and that he had done it advisedly, and meant by
God's grace to keep it ; and therefore would commit
nothing, either by sign or token, which might argue his
consent to the receiving of the same ; and so he desired
the said bishop to judge of him, and that he did it not for
any contempt to his person, which he coidd have been
content to have honoured as well as any of the other, if
A A 2
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranmer.
1533-56.
his commission had come from as good an authority as
theirs." *
The -dignified reluctance to give offence, combined with
a modest determination to do his duty and maintain his
principles, which he thus evinced, the gentlemanhke
deportment — we can use no more fitting term — which
marked the speech and conduct of the archbishop, created,
as an eye-witness informs us, a strong sensation in the
assembly, though doubtless in the minds of others besides
Dr. Story angry and vindictive feelings may have been
excited. At tlie same time, let justice be done to the
Bishop of Gloucester ; he did not resent what some would
have regarded as a personal insult. After waiting to see
whether the archbishop could be persuaded to show the
customary respect to tlie court, he proceeded to deliver
an address, which, too long for transcription, I have read
attentively; and I must pronounce it to be a kind*, a
charitable, a considerate, and a learned discourse. He, of
course, assumed that he was right, and that Cranmer was
wrong ; he was obliged to condemn, ex cathedra^ as the
pope's representative, what he regarded as the archbi-
shop's wrong doings ; and, at the same time, in the pope's
name, and therefore in the language of a superior, he
admonished one whom the University had already con-
demned as a heretic. If he had not done this, he must
have remained silent ; but it is no mean praise to say, that
he laboured to discharge an unpleasant office without
giving more offence than was absolutely necessary. He
certainly displayed no attempt to wound the feelings of
his opponent or to irritate him to make some angry
retort in doing which such men as Bonner took delight.
Addressing the archbishop, he said :
" My Lord, at this present we are come to you as com-
* State Trials, i. 773.
i
ARCHBISIIOrS OF CAXTERBUEY. 357
missioners, and for you, not intruding ourselves by our cbaf.
own authority ; but sent by commission, partly from the - — r-^ — -
pope's Hohness, partly fi-om the king and queen's most cranmer.
excellent Majesties, not to your utter discomfort, but to 1533-56.
your comfort, if you will yourself. We come not to judge
you, but to put you in remembrance of that you have
been and shall be* Neither come we to dispute with
you, but to examine you in certain matters ; which being
done, to make relation thereof to him tliat hath poAver to
judge you. The first being well taken, shall make the
second to be well taken. For if you of your part be
moved to come to a conformity, then shall not only we of
our side take joy of our examination ; but also they that
have sent us. I would think good somewhat to exhort
you, and that by the' second chapter of Saint John in the
Apocalypse : ' Memo?' este uncle excideris, et age pceniten-
tiam, et prima opera fac. Sin 7ninus,' &c.. Eemember
from whence thou art fallen, and do the first works, or if
not, and so as ye know what folio weth."f
He then adverted to many of those actions in Cranmer's
history which we regard as reflecting an honour on his
memory, but which were disgraceful in the eyes of the
pope's representative. All the common-places on his
own side of the question are reproduced by Brookes, and
all the hackneyed quotations from the fathers which had
been from time to time refuted or explained ; the argu-
ment, nevertheless, throughout is that of a man who, if not
deeply read, was well up in the controversies of the day.
The following passage is one of those to w^hich allusion
has been made before as exciting a suspicion, that from
conversation with Cranmer, the agents of the government
* Througbout the proceedings insinuations were thrown out that if
Cranmer recanted, he would be restored to power,
t State Trials, i. 773.
358 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, had already concluded that a recantation on iiis part was
. ^: not a thing impossible.
Cr:!nmer. " What should staj jou, tcU me, from this godly
1533-56. retmii? Fear, that ye have gone so far, ye may not
return ? Nay, then I may say as David said, ' Blic trepi-
daverunt uhi non erat tiinor.' Ye fear where ye have no
cause to fear. For if ye repent and be heartily sorry for
your former heresy and apostacy, ye need not to fear.
For as God of His part is merciful and gracious to the
repentant sinner, so is the king, so is the queen merciful,
which ye may well perceive by your own case, since ye
miuht have suffered a g;reat whiles asfo for treason com-
mitted against her Highness, but that ye have been spared
and reserved upon hope of amendment, which she con-
ceived very good of you ; but now (as it seemeth) is but
a very desperate hope. And what do you thereby?
' Secundum duritiem cordis thesaurizas tihi tram in die
irce.' According to the hardness of your heart, ye
treasure up to yourself anger in the day of wrath. Well
Avliat is it then, if fear do not hinder you ? shame, to
unsay that you have said? Nay, it is no shame, unless
ye think it shame to agree with the true and the Catholic
Church of Christ. And if that be shame, then blame St.
Paul, who persecuted the disciples of Christ with the
sword ; then blame St. Peter, who denied his Master
Christ with an oath that he never knew Him. St. Cyprian,
before his return, being a witch, St. Austin being nine
3'ears out of the Church. They thought it no shame after
their return of that they had returned. Shall it then be
shame for you to convert and consent wdth the Church of
Christ ? No, no. What is it then that doth let you ?
glory of the world ? Nay, as for the vanity of the world,
I for my part judge not in you, being a man of learning,
and knowing your estate. And as for the loss of your
AECHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 359
estimation, it is ten to one that where you were Arch- chap.
bishop of Canterbury and Metropolitan of England, it is - — r^ — -
ten to one, I say, that ye shall be as w^eU still, yea, and Craumer.
rather better."* 1533-56.
The Bishop concluded thus : —
" And thus much have I said of charity. If this poor
simple exhortation of mine may sink unto your heart and
take effect with you, then have I said as I would have
said, otherwise not as I would, but as I could for this
present." f
The subdelegate was followed by Dr. Martin. In a
succinct speech, he stated, that the process against the
archbishop had been ordered by the pope, on a peti-
tion from the king and queen, which empowered his
colleague Dr. Story and himself to act as proctors for
their Majesties on the occasion. He concluded by ex-
hibiting articles of accusation against the archbishop.
Cranmer was accused of adultery and perjury ; and certain
books of heresy were laid upon the table, " made partly
by him, and partly set forth by his authority," and here
" I produce him as the party principal to answer to your
good lordship."
Without moving his cap from his head, the archbishop
rose'. He enquired whether he was expected at the present
time to make his answer. Dr. Martin, the accuser, replied,
" As you think good ; no man shall hinder you."
Wlien the archbishop raised his eyes, he beheld, peering
above the subdelegate's throne, the pyx, and he knew that
if he knelt down, facing the consecrated wafer he should
be afterwards accused of worshipping it. He turned
therefore to the west. There was a breathless silence
throughout the court. The archbishop knelt, and said in
* State Trials, i. 773. t State Trials, i. 777.
360 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Enorlisli the Lord's Prayer. Eising from liis knees he
III . '^. J to
- — ^-— ' distinctly and slowly repeated the Creed. At the conclu-
Cranmer, sion lie Said, soleuinly : " This I do profess as touching my
1533-56. faith, and make my protestation, which I desire you to
note. I will never consent that the Bishop of Eome shall
have any jurisdiction Avithin this realm." Dr. Story said,
" Take a note thereof," and Dr. Martin, losing all patience,
exclaimed : " Mark, Master Cranmer, how you answer for
yourself. You refuse and deny him by whose laws ye
yet do remain in life, being otherwise attainted of high
treason, and but a dead man by the laws of this realm."
The archbishop replied, " I protest before God I was no
traitor ; but indeed I confessed more at my arraignment
than was true." " That is not," replied Martin, " to be
reasoned at this present. Ye know ye were condemned
for a traitor, and i^es judicata pro veritate accipitur. But
proceed to your matter."* The archbishop proceeded by
first of all denying the authority of the court.
" My Lord," he said, " I do not acknowledge this ses-
sion of yours, nor yet you as my lawful judge ; neither
would I have appeared here this day before you, but that
I was brought hither as a prisoner. And therefore I
openly here renounce you for my judge, protesting that
my meaning is not to make any answers as in a lawful
judgment, (for then would I be silent), but only for that
I am bound in conscience to answer every man of that
hope which I have in Jesus Christ, by the counsel of St.
Peter, and lest by my silence many of those which are
weak here .present might be offended. And so I desire
that my answers may be accepted as extrajudicialia." f
The speech of the archbishop and the forbearance of
the Bishop of Gloucester stirred up the proud spirit of
* licmains, iv. S3. t I^'i^l. iv. 110.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY.
361
Dr. Story. In an angry speech, he vindicated the authority
of the court, and, ahnost in terms of rebuke, certainly in an
unbecoming spirit of dictation, he addressed the Bishop
of Gloucester :
"Wherefore, my good Lord, all that this Thomas
Cranmer (I cannot otherwise term him, considering his
disobedience) hath brought for his defence shall nothing
prevail with you, nor take any effect. Eequire him,
therefore, to answer directly to your good lordship ; com-
mand him to set aside his trifles, and to be obedient to
the laws and ordinances of this realm. Take witness here
of his stubborn contempt against the king and queen's
Majesties, and compel him to answer directly to such
articles as we shall here lay against him, and in refusal,
your good lordship is to excommunicate him."*
The Bishop of Gloucester, whose conduct throughout
the trial was impartial, and, so far as circumstances per-
mitted, considerate, only signified "gently," it is said, that
the archbishop might proceed. His Grace thus resumed : —
" My Lord, you have very learnedly and eloquently in
your oration put me in remembrance of many things
touching myself, wherein I do not mean to spend the
time in answering of them. I acknowledge God's good-
ness to me in all his gifts, and thank him as heartily for
this state wherein I find myself now, as ever I did for the
time of my prosperity ; and it is not the loss of my pro-
motions that crieveth me. The irreatest grief I have at
this time is, and one of the greatest that ever I had in
all my life, to see the king and queen's Majesties, by
their proctors, here to become my accusers, and that in
their own realm and countr}^ before a foreign jwicer. If
I have transgressed the laws of the land, their Majesties
* State Trials, i. 785.
362 LIVES OF THE
have sufficient authority and power, botli from God and
by the ordinance of this realm, to punish me ; whereunto
I botli have, and at all times shall be content to submit
1533-5G. myself."*
' / He proceeded to show, that between the papal laws and
the laws of the realm there is such a repugnancy, that no
man can be loyal to both pope and king. He argued
this point very ably and at some length ; he showed that
if to deny the pope's authority and the religion which the
Church of Eome had published to the world in these later
years were heresy, then " all the ancient fathers of the
primitive Church, the apostles, and om' Lord Himself had
been teachers of heresy ;" then coming to liis own doctrine,
he said : —
" As concerning the Sacrament, I have taught no false
doctrine of the Sacrament of the altar ; for if it can be
proved by any doctor above a thousand years after Christ,
that Christ's body is there really — i.e. corporeally — I will
give over. My book was made seven years ago, and no man
hath brought any authors against it. I beheve, that whoso
I eateth and diinketh that Sacrament, Christ is within them,
whole Christ, His nativity, passion, resurrection, and ascen-
sion ; but not that corporeally, that sitteth in heaven." f
He distinguished between the real and corporeal pre-
sence. When the rays of the sun are illuminating, quick-
ening, warming some creature upon earth, we say that
" here the sun is really present," though still the sun is
locally in the firmament. So, although the Lord Jesus
Clirist is locally in heaven, yet, by the rays of His grace,
He is really and truly, verily and indeed, present to the
believer's soul. Lookins; at the Eucharist in the sacra-
mental point of view, there is a presence — a presence in
* Remains, iv. 1 10. f Remains, iv. 85.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 303
tlie believer, which is sufficient for sacramental purposes, ch.ap.
Ill
The elements are consecrated ; they are prepared to -- . -^
become the body and blood of Christ ; and such, when cranmer.
endorsed by the believer's faith, they become in the 1533-06.
believer. According to Cranmer's doctrine, the real
presence of our Lord is effected by consecration and
worthy reception ; and the sanctified behevers offer
tliemselves, with the whole Church, a hving sacrifice to
God. The opponents of Cranmer, looking at the Eu-
charist as an ordinance in wdiich Christ is sacrificed, were
not content with this real presence : they required a cor-
poreal presence, that Christ should be on the altar, in
order that He, by the celebrant, might be offered a sacri-
fice for the quick and the dead. Christ's presence, in
their view, is effected, not by consecration and worthy
reception, but by consecration alone. Hence they wor-
ship Christ in the elements. The subject is so important
that no apology is necessary for repeating it.
The archbishop's speech was an unprepared reply to
the well-considered and carefully elaborated addi"ess of
the Bishop of Gloucester, and we must again be impressed
with a sense of the abihty and ready learning of Cranmer.
He spoke as if he had been irritated by the patronising
tone, which was the really offensive part of the subdele-
gate's address. Cranmer undoubtedly used no " mincing
phrases " when he described the pope as Antichrist, and he
concluded thus : —
" This enemy of God and of our redemption is so
evidently pointed out in the Scriptures, by such manifest
signs and tokens, which all so clearly appear in him,
that, except a man will shut up his eyes and heart
against the light, he cannot but know him ; and there-
fore, for my part, I will never give my consent to the
receiving of him into this Church of England. And
3G4 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. 3'oii, my Lord, and the rest tlmt sit here in commission,
• .- — - consider well and examine into your own consciences ;
Thomas -, . , . t i i
Cranmsr. jou liave sworn agamst Inm ; you are learned, and
1533-56. can judge of the truth. I pray God you be not wilfully
bhnd. As for me, I have herein discharged mine own
conscience towards the world, and I will write also my
mind to her Grace touchimj this m:Jtter." *
The Bishop of Gloucester good-natm^edly remarked,
" AYe come to examine you, and you, methinks, examine
us." The archbishop's powerful address had been very
provoking, and he gave proof that now, as on other occa-
sions, he could make use of very strong language when
he chose. During his speech, the two proctors would
have interrupted liim several times ; and on one occasion.
Story, regarding what he heard as blasphemy, called upon
the commissioner to silence the archbishop ; but the
Bishop of Gloucester kept his temper, and " suffered
Cranmer to end his tale at full."
And now, as was customary at that time in courts of
justice, a desultory conversation was permitted to take
place between the law officers of the crown and the accused.
Of what occurred we have only a partial account ; but
some things were said which throw light upon the cha-
racter and conduct of Cranmer.
Before answering any questions, the archbishop de-
clared that every question was answered under a protest
tliat he denied the legality of the court held in the pope's
name. Dr. Martin then led him on to a discussion on
the nature of an oath, with the view of convicting him of
perjury under the circumstances under which Cranmer
accepted the archbishopric. As we have akeady availed
ourselves of all the information to be derived from the
* Remains, iv. 114.
ARCIIBISHOrS OF CAXTEKBUEV. dbo
assertions and admissions of the archbishop on that point, chap.
• III
it will be unnecessary to report the colloquy between his — ,-^ — -
Grace and the learned proctor. The archbishop repeated cranmer.
what he had frequently declared, that the archbishopric 1533-06.
was not sought by him, but that it was forced upon Mm
by the king.
Martin accused Mm of having held three doctrines with
respect to the Eucharist, which the archbishop denied.
Martin persevered.
" What doctrine was taught by 3/ou when you con-
demned Lambert, the Sacramentary, in the king's presence
at Whitehall ? "
The archbishop answered : " I maintained then the
Papist's doctrine."
Mart. "That is to say the Catholic and universal
doctrine of Christ's Church. And how when King Henry
died ? Did you not translate Justus Jonas's book ? "
Cran. " I did so."
Mart. " Then there you defended another doctrine
touching the Sacrament, by the same token that you
sent to Lynne, your printer, that whereas in the first
print there was an affirmative, that is to say, Christ's
body really in the Sacrament, you sent then to your
printer to put in a ' not,' whereby it came miraculously
to pass, that Christ's body was clean conveyed out of the
Sacrament ? "
Cran. " T remember there were two printers of my
said book, but where the same ' not ' was put in I can-
not tell."
Mart. " Then from a Lutheran ye became a Zwinglian,
which is the vilest heresy of all in the high mystery
of the Sacrament ; and for the same heresy you did help
to burn Lambert, the Sacramentary, which you now call
the Catholic faith, and God's word."
366 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Cran. " I srant that then I beheved otherwise tlmn I
III • •
- do now ; and so 1 did, until my Lord of London, Doctor
£mcr. Tiidley, did confer with mc, and by sundry persuasions
1533-56. and authorities of doctors di*ew me quite from my opinion."
Mart. "Now, sir, as touching the Last part of your
oration, you denied that the pope's HoHness was supreme
head of the Church of Christ? "
Cran. " I did so."
Mart. " Who say you then is supreme head ? "
-4 Cran. "Christ."
Mart. " But whom hath Christ left here in earth His
vicar and head of His Church ? "
Cran. " Nobody."
Mart. " Ah ! why told you not King Henry this, when
you made liim supreme head? And now nobody is.
This is treason against his own person, as you then made
him."
Cran. " I meant not but every king in his own realm
and dominion is supreme head, and so was he supreme
head of the Church of Christ in England."
Mart. " Is this always true ? and was it ever so in
Christ's Church?"
Cran. " It was so."
Mart. " Then what say you by Nero ? He was the
mightiest prince of the earth, after Christ was ascended.
Was he head of Christ's Church ? "
Cran. " Nero was Peter's head."
Mart. " I ask, whether Nero was head of the Cliurch
or no ? If he were not, it is false that you said before,
that all princes be, and ever were, heads of the Churcli
within their realms."
Cran. " Nay, it is true, for Nero was head of the
Church, that is in worldly respects of the temporal bodies
of men, of whom the Church consisteth ; for so he be-
ARCHBISHOPS of canterbury. oG7
headed Peter and the Apostles. And tlie Turk, too, is
head of the Church in Turkey."
Mart. " Then he that beheaded the heads of the
Church, and crucified the Apostles, was head of Christ's
Church ; and he that was never member of the Church,
is head of the Cliurch by your new-found understanding
of God's Word." *
It is easy to understand what Cranmer meant ; but if
the report of the proceedings be correct, it is equally
clear that Martin conducted liis argument with the
greater skill.
The court being called to order. Dr. Martin, as proctor
for the king and queen, proceeded to exhibit certain articles
of accusation against the Lord Thomas Cranmer, Arch-
•bishop and Metropolitan of Canterbury, all of which, if
required, he was prepared to prove.f On account of its
verbiage, the document is of considerable length, but its
statements may be briefly given. Having affirmed the un-
deniable fact that Cranmer had succeeded Warham as
Archbishop of Canterbury, the proctor, ad invidiam,
adverted to Cranmer's life, not only before his consecra-
tion but before his ordination, when " he married a certain
woman called Joan, ahas Black Johanne of the Dolphin at
Cambridge." Cranmer, as a layman, had a right to marry ;
and to make this marriac^e an article of accusation ag^ainst
him was a mere act of malice — worthy to be noted as show-
ing the animus of Martin. The proctor proceeds to notice
the archbishop's second marriage, in a most offensive and
unjustifiable manner. " After the decease of his first wife,
* Eemains, iv. 96.
f The interrogations and the answers are usually taken from Foxe.
On compai-ing them with the " Processus contra Cranmerum," in the
Lambeth Library, I find that they are not accurately given by Foxe, but
we have in the document only the substance of Cranmer's answer.
36 S LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tlie said Thomas Cranmer, having been made a priest
- — .- — ' and placed in the sacred apostohcal order, took to wile
Cranmer. anotlicr woman, named Anne, or perchance otherwise called,
1533-56. de facto, when de jure lie ought not to have done so."
The proctor affirms his readiness to prove " that he secretly
retained, paid, and kept the woman aforesaid, taken by
him as liis second wife, until the death of Henry YIII.,
as covertly as possible." The proctor would prove that in
the reign of Edward VI. the archbishop avowed his mar-
riage, and without shame or reserve treated her as a wife
" as well in mensa as elsewhere."
A hst of Cranmer's works was put in, from which the
proctor was prepared to prove him to be a heretic, espe-
cially in what related to the Sacrament of the altar. The
proctor was also enabled to prove that, by the authority
of the most serene Lady Queen Mary, the archbishop
had been committed to the Tower for his enormous and
nefarious wickednesses, offences, and crimes ; that he was
condemned as a heretic by the University of Oxford ; and
that lie continued to re-assert and defend his heretical
tenets. The archbishop was accused of having instigated
" Henry YIII. and many bishops, prelates, nobles, mag-
nates, and persons of either sex to recede from and re-
nounce tlie authority of tlie pope," although, the proctor
alleged, he had at his consecration professed fidelity and
obedience to the Apostolic See. The archbishop was ac-
cused of usurping and arrogating to himself the authority
of the supreme Pontiff, among other things by consecrating
as bishops persons whose election had not been confirmed
at Eome. All these things were laid to the charge of the
archbishop, and he had shown no signs of repentance or
change of mind. The articles Avere publicly read in
English and in Latin.
The archbishop rose and signified his readiness, under
AECIIBISUOPS OF CAXTEKBURY. 369
protest, to put in his answer at once. The facts he ch.ip.
generally admitted to have occiu'red as was stated ; he had --^ — r-^ — '
only to offer certain explanations.* He did not deny his cranmer.
marriages, or that he concealed his second marriage, 1533-06.
until, by the laws of the realm, he could place his wife
at the head of his establishment. He asserted that he
received his archbishopric, not, as had been said, by
favour of the pope, but through the favour of King
Henry YlLl. He explained that, as regarded some of the
books on the list, he published them, but was not in
every case the author ; nevertheless he maintained that
the doctrine they propounded was catholic and true. He
admitted that he had " receded from the authority of the
Eoman pontiff," and had persuaded others to do the same,
on account of the enormities committed in the papacy ; but
he denied that by so doing he was a schismatic, or that by
receding from the pope he had receded from the Catholic
Church. He offered the explanation of the ch'cum stances
under which he accepted the archbishopric, of which we
have availed ourselves when speaking of his consecration.
As archbishop he had for all that he did the authority of
Convocation and of ParUament, of Church and State.
Although the words of Cranmer were taken down by a
notary, and a promise was made to the archbishop that
he should be permitted to correct the report, the promise
was not kept, and we have only a garbled statement of
what he really said. That he spoke boldly and bravely,
without shrinking from the assertion of any truth he had
already advanced, that he manfully defended his conduct,
we may infer from the behaviom- of the high commissioner.
It appears to me quite clear, that the Bishop of Gloucester
hoped and expected that the archbishop would make
* Strype, Memorials, ii. 1077.
VOL. Vll. BB
OiU LIVES OF THE
CHAP, some concession, and enable him to interfere in his favom'.
> J Brookes was chagrined at tlie bold and courageous
Cranmer. i^^'^mner in which Cranmer defended liimself and his cause.
1533-56. This is apparent in the bishop's manner. Hitherto he had
ad'Jressed Cranmer as " my Lord " ; he now said : * —
" Master Cranmer — I cannot otlierwise term you, con-
sidering your obstinacy — I am right sorry, I am right
heartily sorry, to hear such words escape your mouth so
unadvisedly. I had conceived a right good hope of your
amendment. I supposed that this obstinacy of yours
came not of a vain glor}^, but rather of a corrupt con-
science, which was the occasion that I hoped so well of
your return. But now I perceive by your foohsh babble,
that it is far otherwise. Ye are so puffed up with vain
glory, there is such a cauteria of heresy crept into your
conscience, that I am clean void of hope, and my hope is
turned into perdition. Who can save that will be lost ?
God would have you to be saved, and jovl refuse it.
' Perditio tua super te, Israel ; tantummodo in Me salvatio
tua, ait Dominus fer Prophetam.'' ' Thy perdition is only
upon thyself, 0 Israel ; only in Me is thy salvation, saith
the Lord by his prophet.' You have uttered so erroneous
talk, with such open malice against the pope's Holiness,
with such open lying against the Church of Eome, with
such open blasph.emy against the Sacrament of the altar,
that no mouth could have expressed more mahciously,
more lyingly, more blasphemously. To reason with
you, although I would of myself, to satisiy this audience,
yet may I not by onr commission neither can I find
how I may do it with the Scriptures. For the Apostle
* It is to be surmised that the officials received instructions from
head-quarters to obtain a recantation from Cranmer if possible; and
they were unduly irritated whenever Cranmer gave indications of his
firmness.
• ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 371
dotli command that such a one should not only not chap.
be talked withal, but also shunned and avoided, saying : .
' Hcereticum hominem post unum aut alterum conventum cranmer.
devita, sciens quod hujusmodi perversus est et delinquit^ 1533-56.
quum sit proprio judicio condemnatus' ' An heretical
person, after once or twice conferring, sliun, knowing
that he is perverse and sinneth, being of his own judg-
ment condemned.' Ye have been conferred withal not
once or twice, but oftentimes, ye have oft been lovingly
admonished, ye have been oft secretly disputed with.
And the last year in the open school, in open disputations,
ye have been openly convict, ye have been openly driven
out of the school with hisses : your book which ye brag
you made seven years ago, and no man answered it,
Marcus Antonius hath sufficiently detected and confuted,
and yet ye persist still in your wonted heresy." *
" Athough," he said, " I do not intend to reason with
you, but to give you up as an outcast from God's favour,
yet because ye have uttered to the annoying of the people
such pestilent heresies as may do harm among some rude
and unlearned, I think it meet and not abs re, somewhat
to sav therein."
He then with considerable ability repeated, ex cathedra,
the oft-repeated fallacies by wliich his party supported
their opinions, and concluded in these words : — " Thus
much have I said, not for you, Master Cranmer, for any
hope that I conceived of you is now gone and past, but
in somewhat to satisfy the rude and unlearned people,
that they perceiving your an'ogant lying and lying arro-
gaucy, may better eschew your detestable and abominable
scheme."
Dr. Story called certain witnesses to give evidence to
the truth of the articles exhibited ; the Dean of Christ
* State Trials, i. 792.
d<2 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. Church, Dr. Smith ; a Canon of Christ Church Dr. Tresham,
- ,J — Dr. Crooke, Mr. Loudon, Mr. Curtop, Mr. Warde, and
Thomas ^^ g^
1533-56. It was notified to the Lord Thomas — as he was again
called by the public officer, who read tlie names — that
he might take exception to any of the witnesses so
named. He declared that he excepted to them all, as
all were perjiu-ed, and, as he expressed himself, " not in
Christian religion." " If in times past to swear, as they
had done, against the prince were unlawful, they should
rather have given their lives than their oath. But if it
were lawful, then are they perjured, to defend him whom
they forsware before."
This was more than the fiery temper of Dr. Story
could stand. He burst out : —
" Master Cranmer, you have made a goodly process con-
cerning your heretical oath made to the king, but you
forget your oath made to the See Apostolic. As con-
cerning your oath made to the king, if you made it
to him only, it took an end by his death, and so it is
released ; if you made it to his successors, well, sir, the
true successors have the empire, and they will you to
dissolve the same, and become a member of Christ's
Church again, and it standeth well with charity."
To this the archbishop, says the reporter, answered
again ; but the answer is not given : it was indeed only
commenced, for Dr. Story insolently interrupted him,
exclaiming : — " Hold your peace, sir, and so shall it right
well become you, considering that I gave you licence
before to say your fancy. Your oath was no oath ; for it
lacked the three points of an oath, that is to saj Judicium,
justitiam, et veritatem."*
* State Trials, i. 797.
APX'iiBisriors of cAXXERBURr. 373
The prisoner was ordered to be removed. chap.
The archbishop again made a genuflexion, and removed . ^^^-
his cap to each of the proctors for the crown. Dr. Story, (J^^^^^J
with an angry frown, pointed to the Bishop of Gloucester 1533-06
as the person to whom the comphment was due ; but tlie
archbishop immediately replaced his cap, and as he passed
the commissioner of the pope, no genuflexion was made.
The court met the next day in IsTew College. It is
not necessary to go through the evidence given by the
witnesses there summoned. The facts were not denied,
thouD-h the inferences from them were controverted.
o
Dr. Martin, with a soft and silky mode of speaking,
delighted to give as much annoyance and pain to an
opponent as he possibly could. Knowing what would
amuse the vulgar, he inquired of the archbishop, sarcas-
tically, whether his children were bondmen to the see of
Canterbury. The archbishop asked, whether, if a priest
at his benefice kept a concubine and had illegitimate
children, those children were bondmen to the benefice or
not ; then, smiling, he said, " I trust you will make my
children's cause no worse."
IsTot abashed. Dr. Martin next, reverting to their former
dispute, asked him again, who was the supreme head of
the Church of England. The archbishop was glad to
have an opportunity of explaining his former rather
strong assertions on this point : —
" Marry," he said, " Christ is head of tliis member, as
He is of the whole of the body — of the universal Church."
" Why," quoth Doctor Martin, " you made King Henry
the Eighth supreme head of the Chm^h." " Yea," said
the archbishop, " of all the people of England, as well
ecclesiastical as temporal." " And not of the Church ? "
asked Martin. '-'No" said Cranmer, "/or Christ is only \
head of His Churchy and of the faith and religion of the I
o74 livp:s of the
CHAP. same. The king is head and governor of his people,
,_- which are tlie visible Church." " What ! " quoth Martin,
Cranmer. " You Hcver durst to tell the king so." " Yes, that I
1533-56. durst," quoth he, " and did, in the publication of his
style ; wherein he was named supreme head of the Church
there was never other thing meant.''^ *
The proceedings against the archbishop were now sus-
pended, until the report of what had taken place had been
sent to Eume. Cranmer was remitted to prison, there
to await the final judgment of the pope. He was not,
however, without hope, that if that decision were against
him, the country, so long opposed to papal interference,
would not permit a papal sentence against an Archbishop
of Canterbury to be carried into execution.
Cranmer appears to have been infatuated by the notion,
that on account of the good offices he had, when in power,
rendered to the queen as the Lady Mary, he should, in his
time of need, receive mercy and consideration from her
Majesty. This may have been one of the reasons why he
so particularly resented tlie charge of treason, whenever
it was brought against him. According to modem
notions, nothing can be more clear than his treason,
when he joined in the proclamation of the Lady Jane.
But according to the ancient feudal notions, which still lin-
gered in the public mind, a man was not guilty of treason
to the sovereign unless he had sworn allegiance to him,
or until the sovereign had been anointed by the Church.
Cranmer had been among the first to advance what after-
wards became the Jacobite principle, that by right of pri-
mogeniture and by that right only and without limitation,
the crown -descended from sire to son. Under the old
feudal idea the counsellors of Mary pleaded their cause and
were pardoned ; but it is difficult to understand how Cran-
* Remains, iv. 117.
AKCHBISHOPS OF CANTEKBURY.
o75
CHAP.
III.
mer could have urged this plea in liis own favour, after the
speech he made, if indeed he made it, at the coronation
of Edward VI. It also appears sti'ange, that he sliould cranmer.
be so little acquainted with Mary's character as to suppose 1533-56.
that, if his conduct with respect to the Lady Jane were
overlooked, she would pardon him for the part he had
taken in the e:reat divorce case and in the relicrious refor-
mations in the late king's reign. He evidently thought
that the Eeformation was still au open question, and
that after a free discussion both parties might make conces-
sions. Though he might be deposed, still he thought his
life would be spared. Eeginald Pole, as we shall see in his
" Life," was a reformer. Although Pole was opposed to
the reformation conducted by Cranmer, it still appeared
to be on the cards that the two prelates might come to
an agreement.
The archbishop, immediately after the trial, wrote the
following letter to the queen's proctors : * —
" I have me commended unto you ; and, as I promised, I have
sent my letters unto the queen's Majesty unsigned, praying you
to sign them, and deliver them with all speed. I might have
sent them by the carrier sooner, but not surer ; but hearing
Master Bailiff say, that he would go to the court on Friday, I
thought him a meeter messenger to send my letters by ; for
better is later and surer, than sooner and never to be delivered.
Yet one thing I have written to the queen's Majesty enclosed
and sealed, which I require you may be so delivered without
delay, and not be opened until it be delivered unto her Grrace's
own hands. I have written all that I remember I said, escept
that which I spake against the Bishop of Grloucester's own
person, which I thought not meet to write. And in some
* Altliougli it is not without difficulties, there is, as Dr. Jenkyns
observe^!, a strong presumption that f\vo letters to the queen, which have
been preserved, and are numbered ccxcix. and ccc. in the "Kemains"
are the letters referred to in the letter to the proctor.
376 LIVES OF THE
CHAF. places I have written more than I said, which I would have
, . answered to the Bishop, if you would have suffered me.
Thomas " You promised I should see mine answers to the sixteen
Cranmcr.
ii533-'6 articles, that I might correct, amend, and change them, where
I thought good ; which your promise you kept not. And mine
answer was not made upon my oath, nor repeated ; nor made in
jiidicio, but exti'a judicium, as I protested ; nor to the Bishop
of Gloucester as judge, but to you, the king's and queen's
proctors. I trust you will deal sincerely with me, without
fraud or craft, and use me as you would wish to be used in like
case yourselves. Remember that ' Qua niensura mensi faerilis
eadem remetieter vobis,'' i.e. What measure you mete, the same
shall he measured to you again. Thus fare you well, and
God send you His Spirit to induce you into all truth. — (Sep-
tember, 1555.)"
In the letters to the queen there is no want of boldness
nor the slightest indication of a wavering mind on the part
of the archbishop. We should describe the allusion to
the fact of the king's being a foreigner, as peculiarly bold,
for it was a fact which had strongly excited the jealousy
and fears of the English people. He thus describes the
proceedings at Oxford : —
*' So it is, that upon Saturday, being the seventh day of this
month, I was cited to appear at Eome the eightieth day after,
there to make answer to such matters as should be objected
against me on the behalf of the king and your most excellent
Majesty : which matters the Thursday following were objected
against me by Dr. jNIartin and Dr. Storie, your Majesty's
proctors, before the Bishop of Gloucester, sitting in judgment
1)}' commission from Eome. But, alas ! it cannot but grieve
the heart of any natural subject, to be accused of the king and
queen of his own realm, and specially before an outward judge, or
by authority coming from any person out of this realm, where the
king and queen, as if they were subjects within their own realm,
shall complain, and require justice at a stranger's hands against
their own subject, being already condemned to death by their
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 377
own laws. As though the king and queen could not do or have CHAP,
justice within their own realms against their own subjects, but , " ^
they must seek it at a stranger's hands, in a strange land ; the Thomas
•^ o ' & ' Cranmer,
like whereof, I think, was never seen. I would have wished to i533_5g.
have had some meaner adversaries ; and I think that death shall
not grieve me much more, than to have my most dread and
most gracious sovereign Lord and Lady, (to whom under Grod I
do owe all obedience,) to be mine accusers in judgment within
their own I'ealm, before any stranger and outward power. But
forasmuch as in the time of the prince of most famous memory,
King Henry the Eighth, your Grrace's father, I was sworn never
to consent that the Bishop of Eome should have or exercise any
authority or jurisdiction in this realm of England, therefore,
lest I should allow his authority contrary to mine oath, I refused
to make answer to the Bishop of Grloucester, sitting here in
judgment by the pope's authority, lest I should run into
perjury." *
He then proceeds to show, at considerable length, that
the papal laws are opposed to the laws as well as to the
authority of the crown imperial of this realm. He shows
that the laws of the pope are transgressed in England,
always have been and always must be, if the laws of the
realm are to be enforced ; and he points out, therefore, that
since the pope anathematises all who disobey his laws, the
whole realm, including the king and queen, are under the
papal curse. He sums up this part of his subject thus: —
"And if I should agree to allow such authority within this
realm, whereby I must needs confess that your most gracious
Highness, and also your realm, should ever continue accursed,
until you shall cease from the execution of your own laws and
customs of your realm ; I could not think myself true either to
3^our Highness, or to this my natural country, knowing that I do
know. Ignorance, I know, may excuse other men, but he that
knoweth how prejudicial and injurious the power and authority,
* Remains, i. 367.
in.
Thomas
Ciaumer.
1533-56.
'8 ■ LIVES OF THE
CHAP, which he challengeth everywhere, is to the crown, laws, and
customs of this realm, and yet will allow the same, I cannot see
in any wise how he can keep his due allegiance, fidelity, and
truth to the crown and state of this realm." *
After this lie censures the rituahstic and doctrinal errors
of the papacy. He attacks first, the Latin service ; asserts
it to be contrary to Scripture ; and in proof that it was
opposed to the practice of the primitive Church, he
makes a long and apposite quotation from Justinian : —
" Therefore," he says, " when a good number of the best
learned men reputed within this realm, some favouring the
old, some the new learning, as they term it {ivhere indeed that
%vhich they call the old is the new, and that ichich they call the
neio is indeed the old); but when a great number of such
learned men of both sorts were gathered together at Windsor,
for the reformation of the service of the Church, it was agreed
by both, without controversy (not one saying contrary), that the
service of the Church ought to be in the mother tongue, and
that Saint Paul, in the fourteenth chapter to the Corinthians,
was so to be understanden." f
He refers with equal learning to the sin of the papacy
in withholding the cup from the laity in the Sacrament of
the Holy Communion : —
" Christ," he says, " ordained the Sacrament in two kinds,
the one separated from the other, to be a representation of His
death, where His blood was separated from His flesh, which is
not represented in one kind alone ; so that the lay people re-
ceive not the whole Sacrament whereby Christ's death is repre-
sented, as He commanded." %
Eeverting to the assumption by which the pope re-
presents himself as the universal bishop, Cranmer points
* Remains, i. 373. f ^^id. i. 375, letter ccxcix. + Ibid. i. 377.
ARCIIBlSirOPS OF CANTEKLUKV. O rJ
out how any such assumption had been denounced by chap.
Gregory the Great. The archbishop dwells upon the inor- ^ -
dinate pride by wliich the papacy was disgraced, and cranmer.
hesitates not to describe the pope as Antichrist. With 1.333-06.
respect to his own doctrine relating to the Holy Sacra-
ment, he repeats what he had often said before : —
" Herein, I said I would be judged by the old Church, and
which doctrine could be proved the elder, that I would stand
unto. And forasmuch as I have alleged in my book many old
authors, both Greeks and Latins, which above a thousand years •
after Chi'ist continually taught as I do ; if they could bring
forth but one old author, that saith in these two points as they
say, 1 offered six or seven years ago, and do offer yet still, that
I will give place unto them." *
After complaining of the manner in which the state-
ments of the fathers had been falsified by the Papists, he
continues : —
" In the beginning, the Church of Rome taught a pure and a ,-
sound doctrine of the Sacrament. But after that the Church of
Eome fell into a new doctrine of transubstantiation ; with the
doctrine they changed the use of the Sacrament, contrary to that
Christ commanded, and the old Church of Eome used above a
thousand years. And yet, to deface the old, they say that the
new is the old ; wherein for my part I am content to stand to
the trial. But their doctrine is so fond and uncomfortable,
that I marvel that any man would allow it, if he knew what it
is. But howsoever they bear the people in hand, that which
they write in their books hath neither truth nor comfort." f
A portion of another letter, addressed to the queen, is
still bolder, for he points out in strong language the oppo-
sition between the oath which she had taken to observe
the laws and statutes of the realm, and the oath she had
* Remains, i. 380. f Ibid. i. 381.
380 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, taken to tlie pope, and entreats her to weigh the two
- ^ . oaths together —
Thomas i i i i , i i i
Craumer. " and to See liow they do agree : and then to do as your
1533-56. Grace's conscience shall give you; for I am surely persuaded
that willingly your Majesty will not offend, nor do against j^our
conscience for so doing. But I fear me that there be contra-
dictions in your oaths, and that those which should have in-
formed your Grace thoroughly, did not their duties therein.
And if your Majesty ponder the two oaths diligently, I think you
shall perceive you were deceived ; and then j'om- Highness may
use the matter as God shall put in your heart." *
In this letter he complains that he was kept from tlie
company of learned men and books, from counsel, from
pen and ink, " saving at this time to write to your Majesty,
which all were necessary for a man being in my case."
He also says that for his appearance at Eome, " if your
Majesty will give me leave, I will appear there."
It was beneath the dignity of Cranmer's character to
make a point, as he did, of the impossibility of obeying
the citation. He knew, as well as anyone, that the cita-
tion was a mere form — one of those legal fictions, such as
he himself was guilty of, when, in pronouncing sentence
on a heretic, he handed him over to the civil power,
knowing very well what such handing-over meant.
His complaint as to want of companions was soon
remedied ; he had ere long a greater number than he de-
sired, though not exactly the persons he wished to see. Pen
and ink he had, for he employed his active mind, when
in prison, by preparing a vindication of his book upon the
Sacrament, in the shape of an answer to Bishop Gardyner,
by whom, under the pseudonym of Marcus Antonius, it
had been attacked. Of this he finished three parts in
prison : two of these parts were lost at Oxfurd ; one part
* Remains, i. 383.
AUCHBISIlOrS OF CANTERBURY. 381
fell into the hands of John Foxe the martyrologist ; but ciiAr.
though a copy was sought for, Avith his usual diligence, ._I^L_
by Strype, it has never been discovered. Thomas
Cranmer's powerful letter to Mary, written under these 1.533-56
difficult circumstances, and his readiness, away from his
own books, to undertake to answer an elaborate treatise,
are afurtlier confirmation of the vioiour of Cranmer's mind
and of the soundness of his learnmgf. His intellect was
sohd rather than brilhant, but he never decided upon a
subject till he had investigated it fully ; his memory was
retentive and what he had once mastered was always
ready for use.
Tliere is one passage in the archbishop's letter to the
queen, which, as contrasted with what afterwards occurred,
is remarkable.
After describing the pope as Antichrist, lie says : —
" This that I have spoken against the power and authority of
the pope, I have not spoken (I take Grod to record and judge)
for any malice I owe to the pope's person, whom I know not;
but I shall pray to God to give him grace that he may seek
above all things to promote God's honour and glor}^, and not
to follow the trade of his predecessors in these latter days.*
" Nor I have not spoken it for fear of punishment, and to avoid
the same, thinking it rather an occasion to aggravate than to
diminish my trouble : but I have spoken it for my most bounden
duty to the crown, liberties, laws, and customs of this realm of
England, but most specially to discharge my conscience in
uttering the truth to God's glory, casting away all fear by the
comfort which I have in Christ, who saith, ' Fear not them that
kill the body, and cannot kill the soul, but fear him that can
cast both body and soul into hell fire.' He that for fear to lose
this life will forsake the truth, shall lose the everlasting life :
and he that for the truth's sake will spend his life, shall find
everlasting life. And Christ promiseth to stand fast with them
* Eemains, i. 379,
382 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, before His Father, which will stand fast with Him here. Which
. ,.J ..comfort is so great, that whosoever hath his eyes fixed upon
(jl^ia"™^^ Christ, cannot greatly pass on this life, knowing that he may be
1533-56 ^^^^® ^° have Christ stand by him in the presence of His Father
in heaven." *
The office of preparing an answer to this letter the
queen assigned to Cardinal Pole. To Pole's character, I
have sought to do justice in his " Life." But although he
took his time for his reply, which did not appear till the
6 th of November, the document he produced is so immea-
surably beneath the standard of his ability, that we must
conclude that he composed it under constraint, and that
probably what he wrote was elaborated by other hands
before it reached those of Cranmer.f The letter closes
with the usual reproach of perjury against Cranmer, and
it attributes all his sins and calamities to the Divine ven-
geance for the violation of the pledges he had made to
the pope, antagonistic as those pledges were to the oath
of allegiance which he made to the king.
A tone of bitterness and severity pervades the letter.
As a matter of course, a hope is expressed that his argu-
ments will convince the ai'chbishop of liis iniquities; but the
letter was evidently written for the public rather than for
the person to whom it was addressed. The common-
places of his party, in vindication of his tenets, are
adduced and heartily supported by Pole. There are no
traces in the composition of the Ciceronian latinity which
the cardinal affected, not very successfully, in his other
writings. For a controversy with Cranmer, he was cer-
tainly not the man.
If Pole had given up the hope of converting Cranmer,
his despondency on the subject was not shared by those
who were with the archbishop at Oxford.
* Kemains, i. 380.
f The letter may be ("ouucl in the Ajipendix to Strype, ii. 972.
ARCHClSHOrS OF CAXTEKBURY. 383
Cranmer always desired discussion, not for the sake of chap.
victory, but in order that lie might form an impartial judg- s .J .
ment of doctrines and of persons. On the morning of the cranmer.
16th October he was eno'ao:ed in earnest conversation with 1533-06.
a friar. Their conference was suddenly interrupted. It was
abruptly announced to the archbishop that Bishop Eidley
and Bishop Latimer were passing the prison on their way
to execution. Cranmer rushed to the window. It was too
late. He was told that, when they ivere passing a few
minutes before, Eidley, his dear, his best beloved fiiend
and chaplain, had looked up to the window of the arch-
bishop's room to exchange a last but not a long fire-
well, with the honoured friend who had been to him as
a father. The agony of Cranmer's mind can be imagined,
not described. Up to the roof of the prison he hurried
to catch if possible a sight of his friend. He saw much,
but nothing in detail. The chief magistrates of the city
were assembled at Canditch, over asfainst Balliol College,
surrounded by a military force. He could just see the
two illustrious martyrs conferring together, and taking
their last embrace. A pause ensued, during which Dr.
Smith, formerly one of Cranmer's fi'iends, was preach-
ing, but not as Cranmer would have wished. A long
pause it seemed, though the ser\dce only occupied a quar-
ter of an hour. He saw the authorities trying to persuade
his two illustrious friends — saints, martyrs — to recant ;
he saw Bishop Eidley distributing little keepsakes to those
who were weeping around him ; he saw men scrambling
for relics of the martyr ; he saw him who had come neatly
dressed in the garments he was wont to wear as Bishop of
London, stripping himself to his shirt ; he saw liim stand-
ing upon a stone at the stake and lifting up his hands in
the attitude of prayer ; he saw the brave old octogenarian
Latimer, throwing off his old frieze coat, " standing bolt
upright " in his shroud ; he saw the iron chains brought
384 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, out, and Ridley was seen to be rattling his chain, ere it was
-—-.-^ — - fastened iximid his middle. He saw a faggot kindled and
CraumL-r. haid at Bishop Eidley's feet. Cranmer closed his eyes.
1533-56. He could look no longer. He was on his knees in prayer.
What Cranmer 's prayer at that dread hour was we may
leave it to the reader's heart to suggest.
The next two months were months of deep anxiety to
Cranmer. The news arrived at Oxford in December, or
the beginning of January, that the administration of the
see of Canterbury had been conferred upon Eeginald Pole.
The fact was, that when the eighty days appointed for the
appearance of Cranmer at Eome had elapsed, Cranmer's
case was heard in the consistory. Counsel pro forma
had been assigned to him; Cardinal de Puteo (du Puy)
prosecuted the archbishop in the name of the King
and Queen of England. The excommunication of the
Archbishop of Canterbury was pronounced on the 4tli of
December. By a bull, dated the 11th December, 1555,
the pope collated or i^i'ovided Pole to the archbishopric
of Canterbury.* Thus was defied the English nation. Thus
was set at nought not only later statutes but the statutes
especially of Provisors and Pr£emunire, Pole was only a
deacon ; he coidd therefore be only administrator of the
see until he was ordained and consecrated. f Directions
were, at the same time, given for Cranmer's degradation.
The Bishop of London, Dr. Bonner, and the Bishop of
Ely, Dr. Thirlby, were appointed papal delegates to carry
into effect the mandate for his degradation. Thirlby
was selected, as exhibiting in his own person the honours
to which, by recantation, any one who would conform
to the new regulations of our Church might expect to
be advanced. Thirlby would have shrunk from this
* Parker, 511.
■j" Pole was not consecrated till the 2Gtli of March, 155G.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY. ObD
painful office wliicli, as a penance, he was required to ^f{^'
discharge. Among the many censurable actions of the ■ :j.^^^^ '
government, Thirlby's appointment to this office may Cranmer.
be regarded as one of the most cruel. Cranmer, in the 1^33-06.
days of his prosperity, had been more than the patron,
he had been the affectionate friend of Thirlby. He had
treated liim with the confidence of a brother, he had been
to him a generous benefactor ; it Avas a saying in the
archiepiscopal household, that " Thh^lby's commendation
of any valuable article in the possession of the primate
was a plain way of winning it." * During the Avhole
process, Thirlby was dissolved in tears. He iiad done
wdiat Cranmer was about to do, he had recanted. He
retained his bishopric ; but he had a severe penalty to
pay. It rather shocks one's sense of justice, when we find
those very persons who seek for excuses for the recanta-
tion of Cranmer, utterly unable to pity Bishop Thirlby.
The weakness was venial or criminal in both or in neither.
With respect to Bonner, we observe that the worst fea-
tures of his harsh character displayed themselves on tliis
occasion. He delighted in triumphing over a man who
was a rival cordially liated.
On the 14th of February, 1556, the archbishop was
broujzht under a n-uard to Christ Church. Here the
Bishop of London, the Bishop of Ely, and other persons in
the commission had already taken their places on an ele-
vated platform before the liigh altar, in the choir, in full
pontificals. The commission was read. In the body of
the document it was stated, that in the consistory at Eome,
the case had been fully and impartially examined, both
the articles laid to the charge of the archbishop, and his
replies ; and it was added that counsel had been heard
* Morice.
VOL. V II. C C
386
LIVES OF THE
CHAP.
III.
Thomas
Cranmer.
both on the part of the king and queen, and also in
behalf of the party accused, that nothing had been omitted
Avliich pertained to his defence. The archbishop could
1533-56. not restrain himself; under considerable excitement, he
exclaimed :* —
" 0 Lord, what lies be these that I being continually
in prison, and never could be suffered to have counsel or
advocate at home, should produce witness and appoint
my counsel at Eome ! God must needs punish this open
and shameless lying."
The officer of the court continued to read the commis-
sion, which was to be considered as supplpng all defects
in law or process, and which invested the commissioners
Avith full authority to deprive, to degrade, and to excom-
municate Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury ; and on
his degradation to deliver him up to the secular power,
omni appellatione remota.
With solemn step and slow the procession moved out of
the church to a portion of the adjoining yard. Here stood
a credence table in the shape of an altar. The candle-
sticks were upon it, but the candles were not lighted. It
was covered with the habiliments of the clergy, and tlie
various utensils made use of in their ministrations. On
either side were sedilia for the two bishops and other
persons included in the commission ; for the officer ap-
pointed by the government, — Avhen to the tender mercies
of the State the criminal should be committed, — and for a
notary public. There was a faldstool placed, at which
the archbishop knelt, while the Bishop of London, in the
name of the blessed Trinity and by the authority of the
Church, declared him deposed, degi^aded, and cut off from
all the privileges attached to his clerical order. This was
not enough, however, for Bonner. With unfeelino; inso-
* State Trials, i «03.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 387
lence he turned to the assembled multitude, and exclaimed chap.
in triumph : — — r^ —
" This is the man that ever despised the pope's Holi- cranmer.
ness, and now is to be judged by him. This is the man 1533-06.
who hath pulled down so many churches, and now is
come to be judged in a church. This is the man that
condemned the blessed Sacrament of the altar, and now
is come to be condemned before that blessed Sacrament
hanging over the altar. Tliis is the man that, like Luci-
fer, sat in the place of Christ upon an altar, to judge
other, and now is come before an altar to be judged
himself."*
Throughout the proceedings against him, Cranmer was
sometimes unfortunately provoked to an altercation with
his accusers or his judge ; and this somewhat detracts
from the dignity of his position. He was naturally dis-
gusted and justlj^ provoked by Bonner's vulgar air of
triumph ; but it would have been more dignified to have
remembered the example of his Master, and when he was
reviled not to have reviled again.
Instead of this, he told the Bishop of London " that he
belied him ; as in other things, so in this. For that
wdiich was now laid to his charge was no fault of his ;
but if fault there were, it was to be laid to Bonner's own
account ; ' for the thing you mean, was in Paul's Church,'
said lie, ' where I came to sit in commission ; and there
was a scaffold prepared for me and others by you and
your officers ; and whether there were any altar under it
or not, I could not perceive it, nor once suspected it,
wherefore you do wittingly evil to charge me with it.' "
But Bonner's proud wrath was not to be silenced ; he
went on railing against the archbishop, commencing each
sentence with " This is the man." Bishop Thirlby was
* State Trials, i. 804.
c c 2
388 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, seen pulling him by the sleeve, to make him sit down ;
— r^ — - and we are informed that he upbraided Bonner, when
Cranmer. thev afterwards met at dinner, for a breach of promise
1533-56. in reviling the prisoner. The Bishop of Ely had entreated
liim to treat the archbishop with respect. Bonner, how-
ever, did not restrain himself, until the scarcely sup-
pressed murmurs of tlie indignant bystanders signified
their disgust at conduct unmamierly as it was cruel, vin-
dictive, and heartless.
jSTearly three and twenty years had elapsed since
Cranmer had been oppressed for the first time by the
gorgeous apparel pertaining to his office, arrayed in Avhich
he had frequently, at subsequent periods, appeared before
the public. All the vestments Avhich he as an archbishop
was privileged to wear lay outstretched on the credence
table, though made of canvas and other coarse stuff: —
the purple cassock, the amice, the rochet, the alb, the stole,
the tunicle, the dalmatic, the maniple, the chasuble, the
mitre, the gloves, the episcopal ring, the sandals, the
buskins, tlie gremial, the pastoral staff, the crosier, and
the pallium. Two or more mocking priests proceeded
to vest him. There stood the venerable man, the mitre on
his head, in his left hand the pastoral staff. The grace
of his manly face, the dignity of his figure, prevented men
from noting the materials of which the vestments had been
made. From the top step which led to the credence table,
standing in imitation of an altar, the Primate of all Eng-
land and Metropolitan looked down upon his suffragans,
who, contrary to all law, were sitting in judgment upon
him. The archbishop proudly demanded who among
them all had himself a pall, to justify him in removing the
pall from the neck of the metropolitan to wliom they had
all sworn allegiance.
For the moment Bonner liimself was awed. The
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 389
answer at length came in a low voice, probably from chap.
Bishop Thirlby. They acknowledged themselves to be his — ^-1_^
inferiors, in that they Avere bishops ; but as the pope's cranmer.
delegates they had power to degrade the metropoHtan by 1533-06.
taking away his pall.
The archbishop did not prolong the discussion. He could
not resist the temptation to show how his judges were, on
their own principles, self-rebuked; but he had determined
what to do. He directed the persons appointed to vest and
to divest him to proceed in their work, he would give them
no trouble, for with this gear, he said, he long since had
done. One by one all the ornaments and distinctions of
office were taken off. All was done in solemn silence, ex-
cept when the crosier was taken from his hand ; then the
voice of the archbishop was once more heard. Drawing
from his sleeve a document hitherto concealed, "I appeal,"
he said, " to the next general council ; in this paper I have
comprehended my cause and the form of it. I desire the
appeal to be admitted." He handed the document to the
Bishop of Ely, and called upon the bystanders to be
witnesses of what he had done. The Bishop of Ely had
received instructions how to act if, as was possible, such
a proceeding should take place as had just occurred. He
repUed, " My Lord, our commission is to proceed against
you omni appellatione remota, and therefore we cannot
admit it." " Why then," was the archbishop's reply,
" you do me the more wrong, for my case is not the case of
a private person ; the matter is immediate between me and
the pope, and none other. I hold that no man should be
judge in his own cause." Thirlby had hitherto kept his
feelings under control. He now fakly broke down.
Bursting into tears, he determined to dare the worst of his
employers, and he exclaimed : " Well ! if it may be admitted,
it shah," He received the appeal contrary to his instruc-
390 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tions, and having once n;iven way he could command him-
III ^ ? .
- — r-^ — - self no more, but, weeping still, he entreated and implored
Cranmer. the arclibisliop to cousidcr his case, while it was yet in his
1533-56. power to do him good. If Cranmer would recant, Thiiiby
promised to be a suitor to the king and queen in his behalf.
As he adverted to the love and friendship which had been
between them, his tears hupeded his utterance. lie
solemnly assured the arclibisliop that nothing but the ex-
press command of the king and queen would have induced
him to undertake his present office. He could not dis-
obey ; but in obeying he had become the most unhappy
of men. Cranmer's heart Avas moved, but he Avas master
of himself. Confronting his judge, he stood nobly firm in
his integrity. The condemned man was heard exhorting
his judge to suppress his grief. Of the two which was
the really degraded man?*
The act was drawing to a close. In the lowest depth a
lower deep was found. A barber clipped the hair round
the archbishop's head ; and Cranmer was made to kneel
before Bonner. Bonner scraped the tips of the Arch-
bishop's fingers to desecrate the hand which, itself anointed,
had administered the unction to others. The threadbare
gown of a yeoman bedel was thrown over his slioulders,
and a townsman's greasy cap was forced upon his head.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, or, as he was now called,
Thomas Cranmer, was handed over to the secular power.
In the lowest and most offensive manner the innate vul-
garity of Bonner's mind displayed itself. Turning to
Cranmer, he exclaimed, " Now you are no longer my
lord;" and lie thought it witty ever afterwards to speak
of him as " this gentleman here."
* The original authority for the whole transaction is to be found in
Wilkins.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 391
CHAP.
III.
1533-56.
Craumer's appeal commences thus : —
" In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Thomas
Ghost. First, my plain protestation made, that I intend to Cranmer.
speak nothing against one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolical
Church, or the authority thereof fthe which authority I have in
great reverence, and to whom my mind is in all things to obey) ;
and if anything, peradventure, either by slipperiness of tongue,
or by indignation of abuses, or else by the provocation of mine
adversaries, be spoken or done otherwise than well, or not with
such reverence as becometh me, I am most ready to amend
it." *
He assigns for his appeal six reasons : —
" 1. Being cited to Eome, he says, he was kept in most strict
confinement, so that he could in no wise be suffered to go
thither, nor to come out of prison ; that, in so important causes
concerning estate and life, no man is bound to send a proctor ;
that though he would never so fain have sent his proctor, yet by
reason of his poverty he was not able (for all that ever he had,
with which he might bear a proctor's costs, was taken from him) ;
and that whether he appeared or not, the Cardinal de Puteo
had declared the intention to proceed in judgment against him.
2. That being cited to appear at Eome before the cardinal's
delegate. Bishop Brookes, he had been denied what was ne-
cessary for his defence, the aid of counsel. 3. That he had not
received from the royal proctors, as it was promised that he
should, copies of his answers for amendment, if requisite, to the
charges produced against bim. 4. That he disowned the papal
authority, as well in consequence of his oath against it, as of its
discordance with the English constitution. 5. That the usurped
authority of the pontiff had consumed the riches and substance
of the realm. 6. That it had not only caused the national laws
and customs to be trodden underfoot, but also to the decrees
of councils and to the precepts of the Gospel was repugnant." f
He concludes with the following important sentence ;
which may be regarded as the final enunciation on the
* Remains, iv. 121. f Todd, ii. 465.
392 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, part of Cranmer of the principles on which he acted or
- — ^ — - wished to act : —
Thomas
Cranmer. a Touching my doctrine of the Sacrament, and other my
io33-o6. (joctrine, of what kind so ever it he, I protest that it was never
m}' mind to write, speak, or understand anything contrary to
the most holy Word of God, or else, against the Holy CathoHc
Church of Christ ; but purely and simply to imitate and teach
those things only which I had learned of the sacred Scripture,
and of the Holy Catholic Church of Christ from the beginning,
and also according to the exposition of the most holy and learned
fathers and martyrs of the Church.
" And if anything hath peradveuture chanced otherwise than I
thouo-ht, I may err, but heretic I cannot be, for as much as I
am ready in all things to follow the judgment of the most
sacred Word of Cod, and of the Holy Catholic Church, desiring
none other thing than meekly and gently to be taught, if any-
where (which Grod forbid) I have swerved from the truth.*
" And I protest and openly confess, that in all my doctrine and
preaching, both of the Sacrament and of other my doctrine,
whatsoever it be, not only I mean and judge those things as the
Catholic Church and the most holy fathers of old, with one
accord, have meant and judged, but also 1 would gladly use the
same words that they used, and not use any other words, but to
set my hand to all and singular their speeches, phrases, ways,
and forms of speech, which they do use in their treatises upon
the Sacrament, and to keep still their interpretation. But in
this thino- I only am accused for an heretic, because I allow not
the doctrine lately brought in of the Sacrament, and because I
consent not to words not accustomed in Scripture, and unknown
to the ancient fathers, but newly invented and brought in by
men and belonging to the destruction of souls, and overthrowing
of the pure and old religion." f
When Cranmer, arrayed, by Bonner's order, like a poor
layman, was led from the court, a stranger, a Gloucester-
* The sentiment is that of St. Augiistine.
f Remains, iv. 126.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 393
shire gentleman, brought him his clerical gown, and said chap.
it had been sent to him by order of the Bishop of Ely ! — -^— -
^ ^ Thomas
Cranmer rephed that he might have done a great deal Cranmer.
more for him, and never have been worse thought of; for, io33-56.
he said, "I have well deserved it." Of Thirlby's friendship
the stranQ;er assured Cranmer he misjht feel secure ; and
then he asked the archbishop whether he stood in need
of any assistance or refreshment. " I would willingly
eat something," was the reply; "for having been troubled
with this day's business, I had little inclination to eat
till all was over ; and now that all is over my heart is
quieted." The stranger's purse was opened to Cranmer, for
in Cranmer's purse not a penny remained. Having left a
sum of money for the maintenance of the archbishop, the
mysterious stranger vanished.*
There can be little doubt that Thirlby found other
means of communicating with Cranmer. Permission was
granted to the archbisliop to receive visits from his friends
and acquaintance in the University in the prison to which
he had been consigned. Cranmer, always moved by mani-
festations of kindness and sympathy, was consoled by the
commiseration his visitors, men of all parties, expressed;
while, with his usual readiness, he entered into a discussion
on the theological controversies by which the Churcli w^as
divided.
There had been no time to communicate vdih the go-
vernment; but Thirlby, we know, was anxious to intercede
in behalf of his friend, if Cranmer could be by any means
persuaded to make a submission to the government.
Cranmer w^as willing to save his hfe if he could, and the
* Foxe says that the stranger left Oxford for ftar of being put into
prison by Bonner and Thirlby. The more probable conjectuie is that
he was a secret agent employed by Thirlby, who disappeared as soon
as he had executed his mission.
'^9-4 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, only question was as to the terms of submission with
- — .- — ■ whicli the government would be satisfied. There must
Cranmer. have becu many discussions on this subject. To Cranmer's
1533-56. Erastian or High Tory principles an appeal was made.
The sovereign was, according to Cranmer's view, the
supreme head of the Church in England. He had him-
self subjected Bonner and others to punishment for re-
fusing to yield obedience to the laws enacted by the
authority of the supreme head. The king and queen, as
supreme head, had, through parliament, obtained the re-
peal of certain laws which former parliaments had passed
for the abolition of all papal power in the Church of Eng-
land, and the two sovereigns had subordinated their own
authority to that of the Pope of Eome. Cranmer, as a loyal
subject, ought therefore to yield obedience to what had
been ordered by the sovereign, by parliament, and by Con-
vocation. To the force of these arguments Cranmer so
far yielded as to sign what is called his first submission.
" Forasmuch as the king and queen's Majesties, by consent of
their parliament, have received the pope's authority within this
realm, I am content to submit myself to their laws herein, and
to take the pope to be the chief head of this Church of England,
so far as Grod's laws, and the laws and customs of this realm will
permit.*
Thomas Cra>-mer."
On consideration, it was found that this was not suffi-
ciently definite. Perhaps within a few hours, certainly on
the same day, the submission was signed in the following
form : —
" I, Thomas Cranmer, doctor in divinity, do submit myself to
the Catholic Church of Christ, and to the pope, supreme head
of the same Church, and unto the king and queen's Majesties,
and unto all their laws and ordinances.f
Thomas Cranmeb."
* To(ia, ii. .J72. t Ibid. ii. 473.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 395
When this point was gained, it is probable that Thirlby chap.
found means of softening Bonner, who — coarse, violent, ..^ ,J
and vulgar as he was — nevertheless preferred the recan- cranmer.
tation of a heretic to his execution. 1533-06.
Bonner determined to call on the ex-primate himself,
and he did so, probably, on the evening of the 15th.* It
did not escape him that Cranmer had said nothing on the
subject of the Holy Sacrament. This was the point to be
discussed, and on this point it was less easy for Cranmer
to yield. His Erastianism might enable him to submit
to the authority of the pope, when to that authority the
crown had succumbed ; but he had been, even in prison,
writing an orthodox defence of the doctrine of the Eu-
charist, thereby, as the Papists would assert, persevering in
his heresy. It was at last, however, agreed that the sub-
mission should take the folio winej form : —
" I am content to submit myself to the king and queen's
Majesties, and to all their laws and ordinances, as well concerning
the pope's supremacy as others. And I sliall from time to time
move and stir all other to do the like, to the uttermost of my
power; and to live in quietness and obedience unto their
Majesties, most humbly, without murmur or grudging against
any of their godly proceedings. And for my book which I
have written, I am contented to submit me to the judgment of
the Catholic Church, and of the next general council.
Thomas Cran'mek."
We may presume that among those who A\ere anxious
to save Cranmer's life the terms of this document were
thoroughly canvassed, and the question asked whether the
queen would be content with this. At last a fourth form
of submission was suggested to Cranmer. It was, in all pro-
* The third submission is not dated. I think it more probable that
it was signed on the loth, and that the fourth submission was signed
on the IGth, than that both were signed on the same day.
306 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, bability, the suggestion of Bishop Thirlby, who was well
■ — r^ — - acquainted with the subtlety of Cranmer's mind. It is so
Cranmer. evidently equivocal, that it strikes one as more offensive
1533-56. than any of the recantations that preceded it, Cranmer
had maintained that he adhered to tlie primitive catholic
doctrine of the Church, that he Avould at once accept
what was admitted to be catholic, what would abide the
test of the quod semjyer, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus. The
object of his writings had been to show that his view of
the Eucharist, that of a communion instead of a mass,
was the catholic view ; that the papal view was mediasval
and comparatively modern. Such being the case, surely,
it was said, you cannot object to sign the fourth demand,
which will probably satisfy the queen. At all events, in
point of fact, the following was signed : —
" Be it known by these presents, that I, Thomas Cranmer,
doctor in divinity, and late Archbishop of Canterbury, do firmly,
steadfastly, and assuredly believe in all articles and points of
the Christian religion and Catholic faith, as the Catholic Church
doth believe, and hath ever believed from the beginning.
Moreover, as concerning the Sacraments of the Church, I believe
unfeignedl}' in all points as the said Catholic Church doth and
hath believed from the beginning of the Christian religion. In
witness whereof I have humbly subscribed my hand unto these
presents, the 16th day of February, 1555-6.
TnoMAS Cranmeu."
This was a dishonest document. It is quite true, as we
believe, that what Cranmer contended for was catholic
truth, as opposed to popish error ; but we can hardly doubt
that the intention in this document was to convey a very
different meaning to the royal mind. In the queen's
mind the catholic truth implied the supremacy of the
pope, though, by the major part of Christendom, com-
prehending in that title the Greek Churches, that supre-
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBUKY. 397
macy was rejected and denied. The authorities at Oxford, chap.
however, were satisfied, and they feh themselves justified - — ,- — -
in removing Cranmer from Bocardo to the deanery of cranmer.
Christ Church. Here he was kindly received and hospitably 1 53 3-56.
entertained. His University friends rallied round him,
and every one had a right to expect that the pardon con-
ceded to other reputed heretics would be extended to him,
especially as he was not in the position of a relapsed heretic.
He was visited also by the Spanish foreigners, wlio had
replaced at the University, through the influence of the
Crown, the German foreigners appointed by Cranmer.
Amoncf these the most distiucruished were Petrus a Sotho,
of the order of St. Dominic, an eminent theologian, and
Johannes de Villa Garcia, or Garcina, commonly called in
England Johannes Fraterculus, who Avas regius professor
of divinity.* These were unflinching supporters of the
papacy. To one who had, like Cranmer, always found re-
creation in the sports of the field, and had been accustomed
to much liorse exercise, his long imprisonment must have
been extremely irksome. Though under surveillance, he
now thoroughly enjoyed his liberty ; and we find him
eager in the game of bowls — that game which, until of
late years superseded, continued long a fashionable game
among the clergy. By Cranmer's degradation, the arch-
bishopric was open to liis rival Keginald Pole, and, as it was
not the interest of any one to make him snfler further, he
felt secure of his pardon. Having conceded much, he
evidently became reckless. He had lost character, and
having no character to sustain, he was ready to do any-
thing that might be suggested.
It is my business to state historical facts, and not to im-
pute motives. The honesty of a man's own heart may be
* Wood, Annals, ii. 27.
398 LIVES OF THE
ciTAP. doubted, when lie is continually suspecting corrupt mo-
_ ^^^' . tives in others. I can find no facts to show that there was
cvanmer ^^^^ iusidious attempt to entrap Cranmer into a recantation,
1533-56. and then to betray him. Taking the facts as they come
before us, all seems to have occurred through a natural
sequence of cause and effect. Thirlby and Cranmer's other
friends had been full of hope that they could secure
the pardon of Cranmer, if he could be persuaded to follow
Thirlby 's example and to recant. They all rejoiced to-
gether now when the act of submission was signed. At the
same time, there is not a particle of evidence to show that
they acted on the queen's authority. They assumed that
her sentiments were in accordance with their own. The
queen's stern determination had not as yet been displayed ;
and Cranmer and his friends, all along, believed that her
clemency was greater than it really Avas. They also ex-
pected that a petition presented in his favour by foreign
exiles would tell in his behalf. They made a further very
common miscalculation ; Cranmer, had on more than
one occasion, befriended the queen when she needed
a friend, and he had interposed between her and her
offended father. The merit of the good offices thus ren-
dered to the Lady Mary was overrnted on the one side ;
and by the queen, who resented wrongs longer than she
remembered benefits, it was felt that Cranmer would not
have hazarded the king's favour by pleading on her be-
half, if he had not found, that by doing so he would not
give offence. It is quite clear, that Mary never afforded
any ground whatever for the hope that she would pardon
Cranmer, and she never intended to do so. She never
gave authority to those who effected his recantations to
hold out to him hopes of pardon. Mary, who was always
opposed to the reformations effected in her brother's reign,
had become fanatical on the subject. Of those proceed-
ARCHBISIlOrS OF CANTERBURY 399
iDQ;s she resrarded Cranmer as the chief author, and, since chap.
Ill
the death of Somerset and Northumberland, he was tlie • ,- — -
only person surviving who was to be held responsible, cranmer.
He was led to the course of conduct Avhich had brought the loss-oc.
country to the verge of a revolution, by holding doctrines
which were now denounced by the Church of England as
heretical. He was doomed, as a heretic, to the death
which he himself admitted to be, of heresy the proper
punishment. She would be glad, as a rehgious person,
to hear of his recantation. If he died a heretic she
thought that his soul would 2:0 straight to hell : if he were
reconciled to the Church, it might only go to purgatoiy.
She would cheerfidly, therefore, grant time for him to be
persuaded of his errors. But this was perfectly consistent
with a secret determination, that, as a warning to others,
whether he recanted or not, he should die.
However much we may condemn Mary's principles
and conduct, there is not the slightest proof of her having
held out false hopes, or of her having sought to entrap
the unfortunate Cranmer. She was determined ; and, in
her determination to sacrifice Cranmer she was, doubt-
less, encouraged by those of her privy council who, hav-
ing been reformers in the late reign, had now conformed,
and were eager to represent their former aberrations i.s
the result of Cranmer's artifices.
In regard to tliose who had taken such interest in his
perversion, if Ave except Bonner and the foreigners, they
seem to have acted in sincerity and with good fiiith ;
their fault being that they were too sanguine as to the
mercy of the queen.
Eumours soon reached Oxford that the submissions had
not been such as to satisfy the royal mind ; and Cranmer
had now fallen into other hands. The foreign professors
were supposed to have greater influence at the court than
400 LIVES OF THE
any other persons ; but they had no affectiou for Cran-
mer ; so far as they were concerned, tlieir object was,
through him, to bring discredit upon the cause of the Ee-
1533-56. formation. They also, like the English divines, overrated
their influence ; they talked to Cranmer not only of the
preservation of liis life, but also of a restoration to his lost
dignity. His former friends had not succeeded ; they, the
foreigners, would now act on his behalf ; but they would
not undertake to plead his cause, unless, besides accepting
the pope and the dogma of transubstantiation, he would
denounce Protestantism, and assert more fully his acqui-
escence in all those mediasval fallacies which in the late
reign he rejected. Meanwhile Cranmer, having lost his
self-respect, had, as we have just remarked, become reck-
less. The descent was easy ; to return was difficult. In-
timations must have reached him of the indignation with
which his recantations had been received by those who
were preparing to die for the opinions which they derived
from his authority and teaching. He, in his heart, de-
spised Thiiiby and .others who had done what they were
exhorting him to do. The good opinion of those holy men,
the great and glorious army of martyrs who were waiting
to glorify God in the " burning fiery furnace," which the
queen was heating with sevenfold fury, Cranmer, at
one time their leader and their chief, had lost. In the loss
of honour among those for whose good opinion he only
cared, Cranmer had lost all in this world. The lost man
had nothing to care for ; if his life was spared, he could
hereafter make his peace with a God more merciful than
man. It requires very little acquaintance with human
nature to enable us to understand the misery of Cranmer
imder these circumstances, without a friend to encourage
or to warn him, — goaded almost to madness.
When his new friends approached him with a fiiUer
ARCHBISHOrS OF CANTERBURY. 401
submission, he must have sickened as he saw the smile of ^^-^^•
scarcely suppressed contempt upon their lips. " You have — ^ — '
only," they said, " to put a few words " — that is, to sign Cranmer.
his name — " on this little leaf of paper, and life and wealth 1533-56,
are yours." And Cranmer took the pen and wrote the
words, without perhaps even reading the document, which
ran thus : —
"I, Thomas Cranmer, late Archbishop of Canterbury, do re-
nounce, abhor, and detest all manner of heresies and errors of
Luther and Zuinglius, and all other teachings which are
contrary to sound and true doctrines. And I believe most
constantly in my heart, and with my mouth I confess, one
Holy and Catholic Church visible, without the which there is
no salvation, and thereof I acknowledge the Bishop of Rome to
be supreme head in earth, whom I acknowledge to be the
highest bishop and pope, and Christ's vicar, unto whom all
Christian people ought to be subject. And as concerning the
Sacraments, I believe and worship in the Sacrament of the altar
the very body and blood of Christ, being contained most truly
under the forms of bread and wine ; the bread, through the
mighty powder of Grod, being turned into the body of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and the wine into His blood. And in the other
six Sacraments also, like as in this, I believa and hold as the
Universal Church holdeth, and the Church of Eorae judgeth
and determineth. Furthermore, I believe that there is a place
of purgator}^ where souls departed are punished for a time, for
whom the Church doth godlily and wholesomely pray, hke as it
doth honour saints and maketh prayers to them. Finally, in
all things I profess that I do not otherwise believe than the
Catholic Church, and the Church of Rome, holdeth and teacheth.
I am sorry that I ever held or thought otherwise. And I be-
seech Almighty God, that of His mercy He will vouchsafe to for-
give me whatsoever I have offended against God or His Church;
and also I desire and beseech all Christian people to pray for
me. And all such as have been deceived, either by my example
or doctrine, I require them, b}^ the blood of Jesus Christ, that
VOL. VII. D D
Cranmer,
1533-56.
402 LIVES OF THE
CH\P. they will, return to the uuity of the Church, that we may be all
HI. of one mind, without schism or division. And to conclude,
Thomas as I submit myself to the Catholic Church of Christ, and to the
supreme head thereof, so I submit myself unto the most ex-
cellent Majesties of Philip and Mary, King and Queen of this
realm of England, &c., and to all their laws and ordinances,
being ready always as a faithful subject ever to obey them.
And God is my witness that I have not done this for favour or
fear of any person, but wilUngl}^, and of my own mind, as well
to the discharge of my own conscience as to the instruction of
others. Per me,
"Thomam Cranmer.
" Witnesses to this subscription :
" Frater Johannes de Villa Gtarcina,
" Henricus Sidallus." ^
So Cranmer fell. A degradation more pitiable it is im-
possible to imagine. The triumph over him was complete.
The zeal of Yilla Garcia and Sidallus or Sydall was greater
than their discretion. Eager to proclaim their victory, they
caused the recantation to be printed in London. This was
done without the permission and to the great displeasure
of the privy council. By the council the printers were re-
quired to deliver up every copy of the recantation, in order
that they might all be burned. Tlie queen had determined
on Cranmer's death as a heretic. But if he recanted the
whole nation might rise to demand his pardon ; pardon
was seldom refused on recantation, unless the person
accused was a relapsed heretic. This serves to exonerate
Marj^'s government from the charge of duplicit}^ though
the cruelty of not extending pardon to Cranmer, under
the circumstances, was as marked as was the impolicy.
So far had Cranmer degraded himself, that when it was
* Todd, ii. 477. The fifth recantation in Bonner's account appears
in Latin, bearing, however, an English title.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 403
notified to liiui tliat, notwithstniiding his recantations, lie chap.
had only received a respite, he actually forwarded the docu- -_ ^.^
ment he had just signed to Cardinal Pole, begging the cmnmer.
respite of a few days, that he might give the world a 1533-56.
more convincing proof of his repentance ; in other words,
he was prepared to make, if possible, a more complete
recantation, in the hope that, when tliis was done, the
respite might be converted into a pardon.
The queen, acting on the principle just stated, is said
to have granted what was asked for — a respite of a
few days. But she neither promised nor intended, on
Cranmer's fuller recantation, to remit the sentence of
death. The following, called the sixth recantation, ^^'as
now laid before Cranmer : —
" I, Thomas Cranmer, late Archbishop of Canterbury, confess,
and heartily lament, that I have most grievously sinned against
heaven and the English realm, yea, against the Universal Church
of Christ, which I have more cruelly persecuted tlian Paul did of
old, I who have been a blasphemer, a persecutor, and contume-
lious ; and oh ! that I, who have exceeded Saul in malice and
wickedness, might with Paul make amends for the honour which
I have detracted from Christ, and the benefit of which I have
deprived the Church. But yet that thief in the Gospel com-
forts my mind. For then at last he repented from his heart,
then it irked him of his theft, when he might steal no more ;
and I, who, abusing my office and authority, robbed Christ of
His honour, and this realm of its faith and religion, now, by
the great mercy of Grod, having returned to myself, acknow-
ledge myself to be the greatest of all sinners ; and to the
utmost of my ability, to Grod first, then to the Church and
its supreme head, and to the king and queen, and lastly, to the
realm of England, to render worthy satisfaction. But as that
happy thief, when he was not able to pay the money and
wealth which he had taken away, when neither his feet nor his
hands, fastened to the cross, could do their office ; by heart
D D 2
404 LIVES or TIIK
CHAP, only and tongue, which were not bound, testified what the
^- . rest of his members would do, if they enjoyed the same liberty
Thomas that his tongue did, by that he confessed Christ to be inno-
i5"3-'6 ^^^^'f by ^^^^ reproved the shamelessness of his fellow; by
that detested his former life, and obtained the pardon of his
sins, and as it were by a kind of key opened the gates of
Paradise ; by the example of this man, I do conceive no small
hope of Christ's mercy, and that He will pardon my sins. I
want hands and feet, by which I might build up again that
which I have destroj^ed, for the lips of my mouth are only left
me. But He who is merciful beyond all belief, will receive
the calves of our lips. Animated by this hope first of all, there-
fore, I choose to offer this calf, to sacrifice this very small part
of my body and life.
" I confess my unthankful n ess against the great God. I ac-
knowledge myself unworthy of all favour and pity ; but not only
of human and temporal, but divine and eternal punishment
most worthy; for that I exceedingly offended against King
Henry VIII., and especially against Queen Katharine his wife,
when I became the cause and author of the divorce; which ofifence
of a truth was the source of all the evils and calamities of this
realm. Hence so many slaughters of good men ; hence the
schism of the whole kingdom, hence heresies, hence the de-
struction of so many souls and bodies which it bewilders my
mind to think of. But after this commencement of mis-
chief I confess that I opened a great inlet to all heresies, of
which myself acted as the chief doctor and leader. First of
all, indeed, it most vehemently torments my soul, that I did
dishonour to the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist with so
many blasphemies and r^roaches, denying Christ's body and
blood to be truly and really contained under the species of
bread and wine. By certain publications also I did impugn
the truth with all my might. In this respect indeed not only
was I worse than Saul and the thief; but the most wicked
man ever born.
" Lord, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee ; against
heaven, as I am the cause of its having been deprived of so
many saints, in that I have denied most shamefully that
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 405
heavenly benefit exhibited to us; I have sinned against the ^^^^'
earth, which hath so lono^ miserably been deprived this Sacra- ■ . — -
• T, Thomas
ment; against men, whom I have called from this super-sub- cranmer.
stantial food; the slayer of so many men as have perished for 1533-56.
want of nutriment. I have defrauded the souls of the dead
of this daily and most solemn sacrifice.
" It is manifest, moreover, how greatly I have been injurious,
nest after Christ, to His vicar, whose authority I have damaged
by my publications. Wherefore I do most earnestly and
urgently beseech the pope, that he, for the mercy of Christ,
forgive me the things that I have committed against him and
the Apostolical See. And I humbly beseech the most serene
sovereigns of England, Spain, &c., Philip and Mary, that by
their royal mercy they will pardon me. I ask and beseech
the whole realm, yea, the Universal Church, that they take
pity of this wretched being, to whom, besides a tongue, nothing
is left whereby to make amends for the injuries and damages t
have introduced. But especially because against Thee only I
have sinned, I beseech Thee, most Merciful Father, who desirest
and commandest all to come imto Thee however wicked, that
Thou even vouchsafe nearly and closely to regard me, as thou
didst look upon ^Magdalen and Peter : or certainly as Thou, look-
ing upon the thief on the cross, didst vouchsafe by the promise
of Thy grace and glory to comfort a fearful and trembling
soul so ; by Thy wonted and innate pity, turn the eyes of
Thy mercy towards me, and deign me worthy to have that Word
of Thine spoken to me, / am thy salvation ; and in the day of
death. To-day shalt thou be ivith me in Paradise. Per me,
" Thomam Cbanmer.
" Written this year of our Lord, 1555, the 18th day of March." *
This was transcribed and signed by Cranmer. The
whole transaction is disgraceful to all parties concerned.
We pity the unfortunate Cranmer ; but still we regard
him as entirely disgraced. Yet more disgraceful still was
the conduct of those foreign papists who had led him to
* For the Latin see Cranmer's Eemains. The translation is corrected
from Strype.
406 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, exi^ect that by thus far di^cracino; himself he would save
III . . <- o
- — r^ — - his life, for they must have knowu that at this very time,
Cmnmir. the warraut for his execution was already signed ! We
io33-56. can conceive nothing more base than conduct sucli as this.*
Cranmer was anxiously waiting the result of his last
submission and expecting his pardon, when, on the even-
ing of the 20th of March, he received a visit from the
Provost of Eton, Dr. Cole. The provost had come to
Oxford, appointed by the crown to preach at the execution
of Craumer, which -was fixed for the following day. This
intention of the government had been kept a profound
secret. All that Cole desired was to ascertain, that
Cranmer remained firm in his determination to abide by
his recantations. The result of his visit was satisfactory to
Dr. Cole. Alluding to some former discussions, of which
no record has been preserved, he asked the prisoner,
" Have you continued in the Catholic faith, wherein I left
you ? " Cranmer solemnly answered, " By God"s grace I
shall be daily more confirmed in the Catholic faith." The
provost took his leave, perfectly satisfied.
The next day, Saturday, the 21st of March, was a rainy
day, but multitudes might be seen from the prison window,
flocking into the town ; while the sound of the trumpet
announced from time to time the arrival of troops. This
must have awakened the suspicions of Cranmer, although
he seems almost to the last to have entertained hopes of
pardon. The cause of the disturbance was, however,
* Some modern writers, from internal evidence added to their desire
to injure the character of Pole, represent him as the author of " the
sixth submission." In the absence of other proof, I cannot state as a
iact Avhat is simply the conjecture of party writers. But this cannot
exonerate him from his share in the iniquity of the proceeding. He
must have seen the document, and he must have known that Cranmer
was to die ; what was done mixst have been done by his connivance,
if not under his direction.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 407
soon explained by Dr. Cole, who again paid Cranmer a ch.\p.
visit. Finding liim witliout money, lie gave him fifteen . ^^- .
crowns, and informed him that he would have to submit Thomas
' Cranmer.
to further degradation, orders having come that the ex- 1533-56.
primate should read his recantations to the public. It was
so usual to require this of pardoned heretics, that Cranmer
expressed no surprise at the course pursued, though
probably it excited a recoil of his feelings, and the idea
suggested itself of seizing this opportunity to recant his
recantations.
We may presume this from what occurred, when,
soon after. Villa Garcia arrived at the prison, to submit
to him what is sometimes called his seventh recanta-
tion ; but which was in fact the form, according to which
what he had akeady subscribed in private was to be
pubhcly read. He was to request the people to pray
for him; to use a prescribed prayer for himself ; to exhort
the bystanders to lead a virtuous life ; to declare the
queen's right to the crown ; to make a confession of faith,
and to retract the doctrine in his book on the Eucharist.
Cranmer transcribed the paper, giving one copy to
Villa Garcia and keeping the other himself; but he re-
solutely refused to sign them.
It is an act of justice to Cranmer, to state that up to
nine o'clock of the 21st of March he had no suspicion that
he was to be executed. He still expected a pardon ; yet
as soon as Villa Garcia had left him, he changed the entire
character of the document, substituting in lieu of the
confession of faith dictated by the Spaniard, a disavowal
of the six retractations already made. He probably ex-
pected to have to carry his faggot, and having done that,
to receive his pardon at the stake. It is believed that he
determined to avail liimself of this opportunity for making
a public profession of his sin in recanting, for recalling his
408 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. recantatie:)iis, and for refusing the pardon wliicli, in the
- ,_: - hour of weakness, he had made such sacrifices to obtain.
Craumer. I think that wc are justified by the facts of the case, when
1533-06. considered as a whole, in arriving at this conclusion. It is
certainly the only ground on which the honours of martyr-
dom, in any sense of the word, can be claimed for Thomas
Cranmer. But even then one is shocked by his want of
truthfulness.
The clock had struck nine. At the gate of Bocardo
appeared Lord Williams with Sir Thomas Bridges, Sir
John Browne, and a large array of noblemen and magis-
trates attended by their retainers, all armed. The inten-
tions of the government with respect to Cranmer had
become known. It was feared that between the two re-
ligious factions which divided the country, there might
be a collision. Against this, the government had directed
that precautions should be taken. There was a great
concourse of spectators, supplied by the University and
from the country round, and by not a few from a distance.
A deep silence expressed the sympathy, the awe of the
multitude, as, pausing for a moment in the portal, the
venerable prisoner, his long white beard flo\\ang majes-
tically over his black and ragged gown, moved his old
square cap in courtesy to Lord Williams, and exposed his
bald head to " the pelting of the pitiless storm." * The
rain was descending in torrents. A multitudinous sob was
almost audible. Whether there was a feeling of triumph
in those wlio were papistically inclined, or of deep humi-
liation on the part of others who felt themselves forsaken
by their leader, or of breathless hope entertained by not
a few, who still expected him to declare that his recanta-
* " Thomas Cranmer, aspectu veiierabilis," says Campion the Jesuit,
though he adds, " catera Icevissiimis et corruptissimus regke Ubidinis et
voluntatis assecla.'^
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 409
tions had been wrung from him, and that they did not chap.
express his real sentiments, none could repress the - ,J -
kindlier feelings of our nature which many encouraged, craumer.
They could not but regard with commiseration one who 1533-06.
had walked humbly when on the dizzy height of pros-
perity, and whose firm step still showed that if he had
stumbled he was not yet prostrated on the slippery descent
of adversity.
It had been originally intended, that from Bocardo the
prisoner should be taken immediately to the place of exe-
cution ; a pyre having been prepared on the spot already
consecrated by the blood of Eidley and Latimer. But
owing to the state of the weather it was felt that if to
this plan they adliered full effect would not be given
to the provost's sermon, or to that seventh recantation
which Cranmer had already transcribed and was ex-
pected to read. Fresh arrangements were consequently
made at St. Mary's Church, where the first, and in truth
the most painful, part of the ceremonial was to take place.
The troops lined the streets. The mayor and the alder-
men headed the procession as it moved frgm the prison.
The prisoner walked immediately behind them, with a
Dominican on either side. Certain psalms were chanted
antiphonally, the two monks taking tlie lead on eitlier
side. At tlie porch of the church they paused. The
choir from without was silenced. The choir from within
the church took up the note.
As he crossed the threshold the whole choir, in a
jubilant triumphant strain commenced the Nunc Dimittis,
and Cranmer no longer doubted what the end would be.
The jubilant chant w^as designed to tell forth the faith —
the inward joy as it was supposed — of their victim. He
admitted that his sin had been great ; his prosecutors
assumed that it had been so great that his pardon in this
410 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, world was impossible. But lie was invited to join with
■ r- — - them in the happy thought that he might now be pardoned
Cranmer. ii- the Other woiid. Having recanted, and having received
io33-o6. absolution, he would go not to hell but to purgatory.
This was a ground tor rejoicing.- Death, it was said, was
disarmed of half its terrors. When they reached the plat-
form, which, facing the pulpit, had been prepared for the
prisoner, the Dominicans, with their respective choirs,
branched oif on either side. The prisoner ascended the
steps alone. All eyes were upon him. He was seen to
lean against a pillar, where, like another Jacob, he was
evidently wrestling with God in prayer.
The preacher, perhaps purposely, kept him waiting, the
gazingstock of many eyes. "\Mien the sermon commenced
the archbishop composed himself and listened attentively.
He sat, " the very image and shape of perfect sorrow."
Once or twice he raised his eyes towards heaven or cast a
sad look downwards, but his whole deportment was quiet,
grave, dignified, though the tears, " like the tears of any
child," dropped down abundantly fi'om his "fatherly
face." *
In the course of the sermon, the preacher remarked : —
" That although pardon and reconciliation were due to
the prisoner, accorc^ing to the canons of the Church,
seeing that he had repented him of his errors, yet there
Avere causes why the queen and council at this time
judged him to death. He was a traitor, having when
metropolitan dissolved the lawful marriage of Henry YIII.
with the queen's mother. He was an heresiarch, to
whom all the late troubles in the Church were attribut-
able, and further," he added, " It seems meet, according
to the law of equahty, that as the death of the Duke of
Northumberland of late made even with Thomas More,
* I liavc qiuitcd tlie expressions of an eje-Avitness.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 411
Chancellor, that died for the Church, so there should be chap.
Ill
one that should make even with Fisher, of Eochester ; - — .- — -
and because that Eidley, Hooper, Ferrar, were not able craumer.
to make even witli that man, it seemed that Cranmer i-jss-og.
should be joined to them, to fill up their part of equality."
" Besides these, there were other just and weighty
causes, which seemed to the queen and council, whicli
was not meet at that time to be opened to the common
people." *
He then exhorted the bystanders to profit by the melan-
choly example before them. Seeing the queen's Majesty
will not pardon so notable a man as this, much less, he
continued " in like cause she would spare other men ;
that no man should think to make thereby any defence
of his error, either in riches or any kind of authority,
they had now an example to teach them all ; by whose
calamity every man might consider his OAvn fortune :
who from tlie top of dignity, none being more honom^able
than he in the wliole realm and next the king, was
fallen into so great misery, as they might now see, being
a man of so high degree, sometime one of the chief est
prelates in the Church, and an archbishop, the cliief of
the council, the second person in the realm of long time ;
a man thought in greatest assurance, having a king
on his side, notwithstanding all his authority and defence,
to be debased fi'om high estate to a low degree, of
a counsellor to become a caitiff, and to be set in so
wretched a state, that tlie poorest wretch would not
change condition with him ; briefly, so heaped with
misery on all sides, that neither was left him any hope of
better fortune, nor place for worse." f
Cole then addressed his discourse to Cranmer himself.
* Remains, iv. 133. "j" Remains, iv. 133.
412 LIVES OF THE
CH.iP. Eeminding the prisoner of the mercy of God, who " will
-7;-^-^ — • not suffer us to be tempted beyond what we are able to
Cranm'er. bear," lie expressod a good hope that he would, like
1533-06. the penitent thief, be that day with Christ in Paradise ;
encouraejed him to meditate on the dehverance of the
three children, to whom God made the flame seem
like a pleasant dew ; on the rejoicing of St. Andrew
in his cross, and the patience of St. Lawrence on the fire.
He assiQ^ed him, that if, in his extremity he should call
on God, and on such as have died in the faith, God
w^oiild either abate the fury of the flame, or else would give
the sufferer strength to endure it. He was glorified in
the final conversion, of Cranmer to the truth, which could
only be regarded as the work of God ; and concluded
with many expressions of commendation, and with a
promise that masses should be sung for his soul at every
church in Oxford." *
The congregation Avas about to disperse, when Dr. Cole
addressed them as^ain : —
" ' Brethren,' he said, ' lest any man should doubt of
this man's earnest conversion and repentance, you shall
hear him speak before you ; and, therefore, I pray you,
Master Cranmer, that you Avill now perform that you
promised not long ago ; namely, that you would openly
express the true and undoubted profession of your fiiith,
that you may take away all suspicion from men, and
that all men may understand that you are a Cathohc
indeed.'" f
The archbishop no longer looked the picture of despair.
He assumed a determined and resolute attitude, and re-
plied : "I will do it, and that with a good will." He
took off his cap, he turned towards the people, and he
said : —
* Lo Bas, ii. 212. f Remains, iv. 135.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CAXTERBURY. 413
" Good Christian people, mv well beloved brethren ch.ip.
and sisters in Christ, I beseech you most heartily to --^ — ^J — -
pray for me to Almighty God that He T\dll forgive me all cranmer.
my sins and offences, which be many without number, io3.3-56.
and great above measure ; but yet one thing grieveth my
conscience above all the rest, whereof, God willing, I
intend to speak more fully hereafter. But how great,
and how many soever my sins may be, I beseech you to
pray God of Hjs mercy to pardon and forgive them all."
He knelt down and prayed. There was silence — a
space, for prayer. The silence was broken b}' the deep
voice of the archbishop : —
" 0 Father of heaven, 0 Son of God, Eedeemer of the
world ; 0 Holy Ghost, proceeding from Them both ;
three Persons and one God ; have mercy upon me, most
wretched caitiff and miserable sinner. I liave offended
both heaven and earth, more grievously than any tongue
can express. Whither then may I go, or whither should
I flee for succour ? To heaven I may be ashamed to lift
up mine eyes, and in earth I find no refuge or succour.
What shall I then do ? Shall I despair ? God forbid.
0 good God, Thou art merciful, and reftisest none that
cometh unto Thee for succour. To Thee, therefore, do I
run ; to Thee do I humble myself ; saying, 0 Lord God,
my sins be great ; but yet have mercy upon me for thy
great mercy ! 0 God the Son, this great mystery was
not wrought (that God became man) for few or small
offences ; nor Thou didst not give Thy Son unto death, 0
God the Father, for our little and small sins only, but for
all the greatest sins of the world, so that the sinner return
unto Thee with a penitent heart, as I do here at this
present. Wherefore have mercy upon me, 0 Lord, whose
propert)^ is always to have mercy ; for although my sins
be great, yet Thy mercy is greater. And I crave nothing,
■414 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, 0 Lord, for mine own merits, but for Tliy name's sake,
in. . .
■ — .^ — ' that it may be glorified thereb}^, and for Thy dear Son
Cranmer. Jesiis Chost's Sake. And now, therefore, Our Father
1533-56. ^vhich art in Heaven," &c.*
Rising from his knees he resumed : he exhorted the
people to eschew worldliness ; to obey the king and queen ;
to live -together in brotherly love, and if rich, to abound
in alms deeds. He proceeded to declare his faith, at a
time when, whatever he may have said or written in times
past, dissimulation would be worse than folly. He re-
peated the Creed, and added, " I believe every article of the
Catholic Church and every word and sentence taught by
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, His apostles, and
prophets in the New and Old Testaments."
He paused ; there was a breathless expectation of what
was coming. With peculiar solemnity he proceeded : —
" And now I come to the g"reat tiling that so much
troubleth my conscience, more than any thing that ever
I did or said in my whole life ; and that is, the setting
abroad of writings contrary to the truth, which now here
I renounce and refuse, as things Avritten with my hand,
contrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and
written for fear of death, and to save my life, if it might
be ; and that is, all such bills and papers which I have
written or signed with my hand since my degradation ;
. wherein I have written many things untrue. And foras-
much as my hand offended, writing contrary to my heart,
my hand shall first be punished therefore ; for may I
come to the fire, it shall be first burned." "f
The whole assembly was electrified. A moment of
astonished silence was succeeded by a babel of confused
voices. Dr. Cole, and all who had taken part in the pro-
ceedings against Cranmer, expecting their final tiiumph
* Remains, iv. 136. ■{■ Iteinaius, iv. 139.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 415
over their prostrate victim, were livid witli rage. Pro- chap.
testants were seen silently weeping for joy ; they were - — ^—^
saying to tliemselves, that they had been almost sure that cranmtr.
so it would be ; at all events, their prayers had been heard.
Language the most violent now reached the arch-
bishop's ears — " traitor, dissembler, liar."
Lord Williams remonstrated with him, and reminded
him of his having recanted what he had said of the Sacra-
ment. " Alas, my Lord," said Cranmer, " I have been a
man that all my life loved plainness, and against the truth
I never did dissemble until now. For this my fault I am
most sorry, but now is the time to strip off all disguise. I
say, therefore, that I beljeve concerning the Sacrament as
I taught in my book against the late Bishop of Winchester."
On this the clamour increased, and some, as a contem-
porary remarked, began " to cry out, yelp and bawl."
Lord Williams, raising his voice, called upon him to re-
member himself and to play the Christian man. " I do
so," was the reply, " for now I speak the truth." The
exasperation increased, and amidst the infuriated Univer-
sity mob, the loud voice of Dr. Cole was heard, " Stop
that heretic's mouth and take him away."
There was a rush to the scaffold ; Cranmer was
pulled down. But Lord Williams assumed the command
and protected the prisoner from violence, and the pro-
cession outside the church was formed again.
Cranmer was once more himself. He had done what
he had determined to do, and he had done it well. He
came forth from the church with a happy smiling coun-
tenance. His gait was manly. His eye was bright. It
was no longer fixed upon the earth, it Avas peering through
the crowd, where he saw many an approving smile on
many a tearful face. He felt the grasp of many a moist-
ened hand. Two Spanish friars walked by his side, and
41(3 LIVES OF THE
CHAP, tried to inveijjle him into coutroversv ; but he heeded
III. '^ . "
" . — ' them not, he was busy willi the people who around
Cranmcr. attended him as it were to the field of battle, to witness
1553-56. ii^g ir^^^ struggle, and who were secretly prapng that he
wlio had at last confessed his Saviour, would not be by
that Saviour denied.
They stood at the place where a few months before
his dear friends Pddley and Latimer had glorified God by
their deaths. lie knelt and prayed. Wlien he arose the
friars were preparing to renew their argument; but Lord
Williams in his impatience, or in his pity to Cranmer,
commanded the proceedings to be cut short. Cranmer
obeyed with alacrity ; he threw pfi' the I'agged vestments
by which they had sought to insult him, and stood in a
long shirt, reaching to his heels. His bald head, his
white shirt, his long and yet whiter beard flo^ving over
his breast, betokened a victim whose sins had been par-
doned. An iron band or chain was attached to his body,
and he was bound to the stake. There was an eagerness
shown to press his hand for the last time by those who
gazed on the dying man. Among the multitude Cranmer
saw one Ely; let his name be mentioned, for there are some
who desire, and many more who deserve to be cursed
to fjinic. He had cringed before the primate in his day
of power. He had lately reviled him for disavowing his
recantations. Cranmer put forth his hand to Ely, not Avish-
ing to be " at un-peace " with anyone. Ely refused to
touch the hand of a heretic. What Ely rejected, the
penitent Cranmer devoted to God. The pile was ignited,
tliough the flame had not yet reached its victim. Over
the flame Cranmer stretched forth his right hand, with a
loud voice saying, " This hand hath offended." The other
parts of his body were for a while uninjured ; but steadily
over the flame the offending right hand was held. As
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 417
the devouring flame approached him, once or twice, in chap
forgetfulness, when the perspiration was on his brow, the
burning hand was withdrawn to wipe the face, which it Cranmer.
only served to scorch. The left hand was pointed upwards, 1553-66.
and with upturned eye the poor penitent exclaimed :
" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." But still the right hand
.was burning ; still, amidst his agonies, was heard the cry,
" Oh ! this unworthy hand ! " The body was motion-
less ; not once did it swerve from its position ; it seemed to
be as insensible of pain as the stake to which he was
bound. The flames rushed on him in charitable fury.
His sufferings were short. His spirit was set free.
He died a martyr's death ; but to die bravely when
death is inevitable is not suflicient to constitute a martyr.
The noble army of martyrs consists of those who, rather
than deny the truth, have offered themselves voluntarily
to torture or to death. By calling our attention from
his offending soul to his unoffending right hand, Cranmer
has excited our feehncfs of commiseration ; but charity
itself wdll sometimes doubt whether the right hand
would have suffered, if the enemies of Cranmer had not
proved themselves to be among the basest of mankind.
We are disgusted by the falsehoods to which they had
recourse, in order that they might rob their victim of his
honour before they took his hfe ; but of persecution the
friends of Cranmer have no right to complain, for he had
acted, and was still prepared to act, on the principle that
the magistrate, justified in condemning to the gallows the
wretch who deprived a fellow creature of life or property,
was equally bound, for the good of society, to consign to
the stake the unhappy person who, himself mistaken, had
laboured, through the propagation of heresy, for the
destruction of an immortal soul.
Of the merits and demerits of Archbishop Cranmer
VOL. VII. E E
418 LIVES OF THE
CHAP. i[-^Q reader lias had in these pages an impartial descrip-
"TT' — tion. Before he can be spoken of as a hero or a saint, the
Inomas , '^ _
Cranmcr. reader's estimate of the lieroic and the saintly character
ioo3-->G. j^^gj^ j-jg ascertained. That he was time-serving as a poli-
tician, liis warmest admirers must admit ; in his worst
actions, Henry Ym. found an instrument in Cranmer,
whose remonstrances, if they evince tlie kindness of his
heart, at the same time display a culpable weakness both
of character and of principle. As the primate of an ancient
church, while he laboured to remove the abuses by which,
in the lapse of ages, it had been encrusted, he was cai'cful
to preserve its continuity, and he resisted successfully the
attempts incessantly made to supplant, by the introduction
of a modern sect, the church of Augustine ; nevertheless,
it cannot be denied that by the precedent set through his
timid concessions to the civil power, Cranmer bequeathed
to us an ecclesiastical atmosphere so charged, with Eras-
tianism, as to render it difficult, at certain times, to extri-
cate the religious from the political element. In doctrine,
Cranmer drifted from Erasmus towards Luther, but a
Lutheran he never became ; he is described in a Lutheran
publication of the present day, as " having lacked the
central living principle of justification by faith only, and
a clear perception of other Gospel truths." * Of his
morahty in a profligate court we must ever speak ^vith
respect ; if he was not always faithful in rebuking vice,
he encouraged and rewarded the virtuous ; if he was timid
in the defence of his friends, his placability and gentleness
towards his opponents became proverbial ; if his imbecihty
and indecision prevented him from rallying around him
many partisans, yet, charmed by the gentleness of his
temper and the suavity of his manners, his fi^iends were
numerous. In literature, he had no originality ; he would
• Bomberger's Protestant Encyclopaedia.
END OF THE SEVENTH VOLUME.
LOKDON
PEIKTED BT 8POTTIS-W0ODE AND CO.
HEW-SIEBBT 8Q17ABK
1533-56.
ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY. 419
never have been impelled to authorship b}' the mere ^Yit^''
irritation of genius. But if his writings indicate no inde- "^J^^;^
pendence of research and are never quoted as an authority
by the modern divine, his professional reading was exten-
sive, and he exhibited much readiness and skill in the
use of his materials. The flames which consumed his body
have cast a false glitter upon his character ; but this is
no fault of his. Cranmer, in the last act of his life, with
his burning right hand, appealed to the Church, not for
honour, but for pardon—' as a beacon upon the top of a
mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.'
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